Second Life
by FusionPanda
Summary: Two years after the destruction of the original Normandy, Commander Shepard has been awoken from death to fight off a huge danger to the galaxy. As always, reviews are appreciated.
1. Lazarus

_Unknown Date_

 _Unknown Time_

 _Unknown Location_

 _XO Miranda Lawson, The Illusive Man_

"Shepard did everything right" Miranda insisted as she stared out into space. "More than we could've hoped for. Saving the Citadel – but leaving the Council to die. Humanity's place in the galaxy couldn't have been stronger … and still it's not enough."

The Illusive Man tapped his cigarette against the bowl and sighed. "Humanity may control the Council, but Shepard remains our best hope." The officer quickly stopped the conversation and walked over to The Illusive Man. "But they're sending her to fight Geth! Geth! We both know they're not the real threat. The Reapers are still out there" Miranda said softly, resting one hand on her hip. "And it's up to us to stop them" The Illusive Man husked.

"The Council will never trust Cerberus" the officer insisted, folding her arms and frowning. "They'll never accept our help. Even after everything humanity has accomplished. But Shepard – they'll follow her. She's a hero, a bloody icon. But she's just one woman. If we lose Shepard, humanity might well follow." The Illusive Man put his cigarette into the ash tray and began staring at Miranda. "Then see to it that we don't lose her."

 **E**

 _Unknown Date_

 _Unknown Time_

 _Unknown Location_

 _Normandy SR-1 Crew_

"Disengaging FTL drives. Emission sinks active. Board is green, we are running silent..."

"We're wasting our time" Pressly insisted, "Four days searching up and down this sector, and still no trace of Geth activity."

"Three ships went missing here in the past month. Something must have happened" Joker retorted.

"My money's on slavers. The Terminus system is crawling with -"

"I've got a signal!" an operator yelled from her seat. "An unidentified vessel, looks like a cruiser." Joker quickly homed in on the same signal and raised a brow. "Doesn't look like any known signatures."

The mysterious vessel followed Joker's ship for a bit longer, until it made a course for the Normandy. "The vessel is now on intercept trajectory."

"Impossible!" Pressly exclaimed. "Our stealth systems are engaged; there's no way a Geth ship could -"

"It's not the Geth. Brace for evasive manoeuvres!"

The vessel fired out a long sickly yellow beam. The Normandy ducked under it, but the laser clipped it's wing at the last second.

"Argh!" Pressly yelled as he fell to the ground. The operator who first noticed the ship got up to check on Pressly, but was quickly blown aside by the blast of an explosion. "Kinetic barriers down!" Joker exclaimed. "Multiple hull breaches. Weapons offline. Someone put that fire out!"

The mysterious ship hit the Normandy with two more firing lasers, the second of which sent the Normandy onto a tilt.

Another explosion, another corpse. Liara jogged through the halls, holding her helmet, until she reached her lover, Commander Laura Shepard. Shepard fitted her own helmet on and looked back to her Asari bondmate. "Shepard!" Liara exclaimed.

"Distress beacon is ready for launch" the Commander replied.

"Will the Alliance get here in time?" the Asari asked, putting her helmet over her head. Shepard grabbed a fire extinguisher from the wall. "The Alliance won't abandon us. We just need to hold on. Get everyone you can onto the escape shuttles." The commander sprayed a few fires and then tossed the can to her lover. "Joker's still in the cockpit. He won't evacuate. I won't leave either."

"There's no time to argue. I need you to get everybody onto the evac shuttles. I'll take care of Joker."

"Aye aye." The Asari quickly zoomed off into the orange haze.

Shepard made her way through the halls and up the staircase, all the while Joker yelling through the comm, asking for help. When the commander got to the top of the stairs, the door opened to a blasted deck; the roof was gone, and the vacuums of open space had seeped in.

Laura slowly moved across the deck until she got to the bridge. She grabbed Joker's arm. "Come on, Joker. We have to leave!"

"NO!" he retorted. "I won't abandon the Normandy! I can still save her!"

"This ship is in tatters! Going down with it won't change that."

"Yeah, okay … help me up."

Shepard helped the pilot into a spare shuttle. The commander got blown back by another fiery beam. She stopped next to the emergency button. "Commander!" Joker yelled. Laura smashed the button as hard as she could; the doors to the shuttle closed and Shepard was blown back into a wall, and then out into space.

Shepard looked around and then frantically grasped at her helmet. She began to choke, and was soon sent flying back down into orbit.

O0o

" _Commander Shepard has been recovered."_

" _The Lazarus Project will proceed as planned."_

O0o

" _There. On the monitor. Something's wrong"_ a feminine voice began.

" _She's reacting to outside stimuli"_ a deeper voice interrupted. _"Showing an awareness of her surroundings. Oh my god, Miranda. I think she's waking up."_

Shepard raised her head slowly, her vision dazed. Through the coloured haze, Laura made out a slender Caucasian figure with jet black hair running down to her shoulders.

The commander looked to her right this time and saw a blurry male with a thin layer of stubble across his chin.

" _Dammit, Wilson! She's not ready yet. Inject the sedative!"_ The woman looked down at Laura. The commander raised her hand and tried to grab the female, but she quickly grabbed her wrist. "Shepard – I need you to relax. Just lie still. Try to calm down." The female rested the commander's wrist by her side.

"Her heart rate's still climbing" the male spoke, "brain activity is off the charts." The female frowned and walked over to her colleague. "Stats pushing into the red zone – it's not working!" The female pushed her male counterpart aside. "Another dose!" she ordered; "now!" The male did as he was told, quickly walking over to a control panel and tapping a few buttons. Suddenly, Shepard's senses began to calm, her vision began to blur again. "Heart rate dropping" he revealed. "Stats going back into normal range. That was too close" he continued as the female walked over to Laura's side, gripped her arm and smiled. "We almost lost him."

"I told you all estimates were off!" the woman exclaimed sternly. "Run the numbers again." The commander slowly dozed off once again.

 _May 15th, 2185_

 _1100 hours_

 _Lazarus Base, Unknown Location_

 _Commander Laura Shepard_

" _Wake up, Commander!"_

A voice and a rumble slowly wake the human from her slumber.

" _Commander Shepard, do you hear me? Get out of that bed now – this facility is under attack."_

The commander woke almost fully, but with a dull blur to her surroundings.

"Shepard. Your scars aren't healed, neither your vision, but I need you to get moving. This facility is under attack!"

As Shepard rose, her side ached. She got up to the sound of gunfire.

"You'll have to scavenge for weapons. There's a communicator on the table beside the bed. Hurry! " Shepard picked up the small communicator and wrapped it around her ear. She then rushed down the room and through the only corridor in it. "That's it, Shepard!" the voice exclaimed; "now, keep moving, we need to get you to the shuttles."

The commander moved into a large open room. "Two hostiles on the balcony. Hurry!" Laura limped up the steps; she was met by two mechs. The first one shot. Shepard ducked, shuffled towards the bot and disarmed it. She elbowed it in the head and watched it stumble to the ground. The commander aimed her gun at the second mech, but couldn't fire due to there being no thermal clip in the pistol. She dropped it, tripped the bot up and slammed her fist into it's face.

"Nice work, Shepard. Coast is clear for now. Get going!" Shepard slowly limped through the door at the far side of the room. It opened into a large observatory with a huge glass window for a roof. She sauntered into across the large deck and was shot at by a group of mechs on the far side of the room, on a separate balcony.

Laura crouched behind cover. Her hands began to tingle, then her face and soon her entire body. She could feel a mysterious power, and she was drawn to it; she got up from cover, drew back her arm and then swung it at the group of mechs. Suddenly, all of the bots were drawn into singularity. Shepard held her arm in the air for a few seconds, and then crushed her fist. Her powers reacted to her clenched fist and the singularity ball exploded in a shower of dark blue hues, sending the mechs flying.

"Good work, Shepard. Your biotics are ready for use. You just need to ge-to-ah..." The female voice trailed off as the comm went down. The commander walked through the door at the end of the deck and walked through it.

In the next room, a man was slouched against a low wall. He groaned. Even though Shepard wasn't fully healed either, she decided to help. "Who are you? Do you need help?"

"What does it look like?" he retorted. "Wait..."

"You were there the first time I regained consciousness" Laura exclaimed.

"Good to see we did a good job on your memory" he replied. "The name's Wilson, but a little small talk is all I need. There's a canister of medi-gel in the locker on that wall." Wilson pointed to a box propped up on a wall. Shepard got up, walked over to the station, snagged the medi-gel and used it on Wilson.

The man slowly raised himself with a smile. "Thanks, Shepard. Never though you'd save my life. Guess that makes us even. I thought maybe I could shut down the mechs, but whoever has done this has fried the entire system. Completely irreversible."

"Hold on" Shepard began. "I didn't ask what you were doing-"

"I needed to tell you! I tried to fix this. If you're thinking I'm a traitor, then you're wrong. They shot me!"

"Calm down!" Laura exclaimed. "I don't think you're the traitor, but I still don't trust you. Let's find the woman on the comm, and then we'll-"

"Miranda?" Wilson cut in; "she's dead, she has to be. If you haven't heard from her, then..."

"It's worth a shot" the commander insisted. "She lead me around this facility; the least we can do is try and find her."

"I suppose you're right" the man conceded. "Come on, let's-"

The conversation was cut short by a small group of less then half a dozen mechs storming into the room. Shepard tackled one, Wilson kicked another. "Get back!" Laura yelled; she focused her biotic power and slammed her fist down against the cold hard metal ground. A biotic wave of raw power burst from her fist, knocking every single mech unconscious. "Wow" Wilson uttered. "We did a good job on your biotics as well. Come on."

Whilst Laura travelled with Wilson to the shuttle bay (where they though Miranda might be waiting), she noticed a lot of the same symbol across the walls. She recognized them from somewhere. And then it struck her.

 **Cerberus.**

Shepard turned around with a look of tentative rage on her face. "This a Cerberus base."

"How did you..." Wilson began, bewildered by the commander's memory.

"You bastard!" Shepard yelled. "Fuck you, and fuck your plans. I'm out!" Laura angrily ran away, and Wilson followed her.

The two of them made it to the shuttle bay, but as they almost reached the door, it opened and a woman – presumably Miranda – pulled out her pistol and shot. Before the bullet was fired, Laura ducked. The bullet pierced Wilson's skull, leaving him a lifeless corpse to topple onto the floor.

Shepard straightened her back, her anger boiled until it could no longer be contained. She moved forward and swung for Miranda. The woman lobbed her weapon aside and slammed the commander against the wall. "You bitch!" Laura yelled. "You tried to kill me, you fucking Cerberus wench!" Miranda growled and pinned Shepard's wrists to the wall even harder. "Shut your mouth! Everything I did was for you!-"

"Including that bullet?!" Shepard retorted.

"That bullet was for Wilson! He was the traitor! Now, calm down before I sedate you!"

"That's your solution to everything, isn't it?!" Laura exclaimed. "Just send the bitch to sleep, and then-" Suddenly, Shepard's words trailed off.

"Commander?" the woman asked. Laura's limp body collapsed in Miranda's arms. "Shepard!"

 _May 15th, 2185_

 _1220 hours_

 _Unknwon Location_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

" _Biotics are good, thoughts are good, memory is good. It must've been a relapse."_

Shepard groaned and gripped her side in pain. "Good" Miranda said, inching closer to the commander. "You're awake."

"Thanks for saving me, I guess. I doesn't mean I like you more, though."

"I wouldn't expect anything less from you, commander. The Illsuive Man is waiting for you in the next room."

"Yeah, all right, will you just give me some time to myself?"

"I expect you to be up and ready in a matter of minutes." Miranda slowly walked away, and under her breath Shepard muttered:

"Expectations, my ass."

 **Author's Note:** **Well, that was fun. I am looking forward to writing this in the future, and I hope that you'll join me for this journey as well.**

 **Don't expect any regular update schedule. All I know is that it will almost always update on a weekend.**

 **But DO expect a new side story to release soon to introduce a new character. Ooh!**

 **A few major things were absent in this chapter, like the character Jacob and no guns. There will be an addition, though, of a new character to fill Jacob's space and new and improved biotic abilities.**

 **This story is going to have some drama. Get together's, break up's, deaths and cheaters. Drama!**

 **Until the next time, have a great day!**


	2. Abductions

__May 15th, 2185__

 _ _1220 hours__

 _ _Unknown Location__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, The Illusive Man__

After a couple of moments, Shepard sat up from the medical table and made her way out of the sick bay and into the hall. Miranda was standing next to the wall, typing something on her computer. She threw an angry glance at the commander and focused back on her work. "Hey!" Shepard yelled across the room to the stone-cold officer. Miranda looked up and scowled. "Where did the Illusive Man want to meet with me?" The woman pointed to a corridor which led down to somewhere the commander couldn't see. "Down there." Laura nodded and quickly made her way down the stairs and into the room leading off of them.

The commander stepped into the centre of a small metal ring on the floor; a holographic-like force field emitted around her, and then The Illusive Man did the same.

"Commander Shepard" he breathed, tapping his cigarette against the rim of the tray. "Illusive Man" Laura replied sternly. "I knew you would be a coward, not meeting face-to-face."

"A necessary precaution. Not unusual for people who know what you and I know."

"What exactly is it that you and I know?"

"That out place in the galaxy is more fragile than we'd feared" The Illusive Man replied calmly, staring straight into Shepard's eyes. "That one very specific man is all that stands between humanity and the greatest threat to our brief existence." Laura sighed and then put a hand on her hip. "The Reapers."

"Ah" the man started, lighting another cigarette, "good to see your memory's still holding up. How are you now?"

"Cut to the chase. What terrible thing are the Reapers doing which made you decide to bring me back?" The Illusive Man grunted, unwrapped his legs and stood up from his chair. "We're at war" he huffed. "No-one wants to admit it, but humanity's under attack." The man made his way slowly over to the commander. "Whilst you were in a two year long coma, colonies have been disappearing. Human colonies. We believe it's someone working with the Reapers. Just as Saren and the Geth aided Soverign. You've seen it yourself. You bested all of them. That's one reason we chose you." Laura bleakly sighed and stared at her superior. "If what you say is true" Shepard began; "if the Reapers are behind this … I'd have to consider helping you."

"I'd be disappointed if you accepted this without seeing it." The Illusive Man turned away and gazed at the star behind his base. "I have a shuttle ready to take you to Freedom's Progress, one of the most recent colonies to be attacked. Miss Lawson will brief you." Laura sniggered and then folded her arms in disbelief. "Miranda is an ice cold bitch. She killed Wilson in cold blood. What reason do I have to trust her?"

"Wilson was one of my best agents, but he was a traitor" The Illsuive Man stated. "Miranda did exactly what I expected of her. She's saved your life in more ways than one." Shepard frowned.

"Miranda could have shot me, and you expect me to just go with it?!"

"You'll do just fine with her."

"I take it I don't have a say in the matter?"

"Go to Freedom's Progress" he said sternly. "Find anything you can. Who's abducting the colonies? What's there motive? I brought you back. Now it's time to repay me."

The field around the commander drifted away. Laura sighed and made her way back up the stairs. "Hey" Laura shouted to Miranda. "The shady prick says I have to team up with you."

"He makes good decisions" the operative replied arrogantly.

"Oh, you smarmy little bitch" Shepard exclaimed. "You are so fucking self centred, it's untrue."

"It's perfectly reasonable. I am The Illusive Man's second in command, after all."

"You're more like his mutt. Wrapped around his finger, doing whatever he wants. You are a complete bitch, but take my advice; never trust anyone as much as you do. I take that from personal experience." Laura sighed and walked away. "Come to the shuttle when you're ready."

 _May 15th, 2185_

 _1300 hours_

 _In A Shuttle, On the Way to Freedom's Progress_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

The space in the shuttle would be completely silent if not for the low humming of the engines. Miranda was curious about something the commander said earlier, so she put her data pad aside and spoke out. "Commander." Shepard grunted lazily at her name being spoken. "What?" Lawson sighed; she hardly got off on the right foot with Laura, so she didn't really want to tackle a possibly tricky subject. "If you don't mind me asking, you said 'never trust anyone as much as I do, I take that from personal experience.' What did you mean?" The commander sighed and then looked up at the officer with a bleak look to her face. "What do you care?"

"Look Shepard, we don't have to be best friends, but I felt that we got off on the wrong foot, and so I want to at least know you for you, OK?" Laura sighed deeply and began her sentence.

"If you really must know, I was talking about my teen years. I grew up in Calafornia, just south of the beach. Every Sunday, me and my friends would always do stupid things there in the evening. It was always the same friends, Matthew and Lucy. One day, the three of us were mucking about on the pier. Well, I say the three of us, Lucy had gone home, but I can't remember why. Matt and I were playing about near the railings, when Matthew shoved me and I fell over the edge."

"My god. Were you hurt?" Lawson asked, just stopping short of dropping her jaw.

"I didn't fall all of the way, in fact, not much of it at all. I managed to grab onto the edge in time. The thing is, Matty didn't help. He just stood there, like a statue. When I called his name and asked for his help, he just ran away and never looked back. It was a high tide day, so if I was there any longer I would have been pulled down. I managed to make it up in time."

Miranda stared at the commander in shock. "Why didn't you call the police?"

"There was part of me that still thought of Matthew as the brother I never had. I couldn't."

"How was life like knowing that he was still around?"

"Matt and his family moved away shortly after. All of that is what I meant."

"I'm so sorry to hear that."

 _May 15th, 2185_

 _1310 hours_

 _Freedom's Progress_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

Before the shuttle had even taken off, Shepard had insisted that she didn't need weapons. She eventually persuaded people at the base to give the weapons instead to Miranda.

Miranda followed the commander out of the shuttle. The two of them walked through an empty room until they got to the other side. Both Lawson and Shepard made their way down to a large door embedded in the rock face. All Laura had to do was move close to it for it to open.

On the other side were two mechs on a far away balcony. "Cover, now!" Miranda yelled. The two of them crouched behind a chest high fence. "Why are there mechs here?" Miranda said over the gunfire. "All security systems were disabled at the other colonies!"

Shepard quickly hopped out of cover and brought the bots up into the air with her biotics before quickly slamming them back down. "More from up there!" the officer shouted. She was right. A group of three mechs with a small dog-like bot came out of a door on a higher level.

Miranda overloaded one, sending it into a frozen stance. Laura zoomed towards them with her biotics and slammed her fists into the ground. Time around her seemed to slow for everyone except her. She landed one punch on one bot, she uppercut another, got out her knife and impaled another's chest and she stamped on the dogs head.

"Wow" Lawson uttered in awe as every mech fell to the ground, lifeless, and the commander stood in the centre, clutching for breath. "You are certainly good" the officer said. "Come on, we've got further still."

The two of them carried on through the beaten path until they ran into more mechs. One fired a shot which luckily just missed the commander's head. Shepard got behind cover and launched a shockwave at the bots. It collided with one, sending him flying, over the barrier and down into the bottomless pit. Another bot fired at Miranda, who was crouching behind a small crate outside. Laura built up energy and then fired off a huge biotic flare. It flew at the mech; the flare landed behind it and devastated both it and the building.

Miranda and the commander made their way up to a building. The door opened, and the Quarians inside jumped. They got up from their seats and aimed their weapons at the Lawson and Shepard. "Stop right there!" one of them yelled.

"You said you'd let me handle this!" another yelled. She stepped in between the two duellers. "Wait … Shepard?!" the quarian exclaimed.

"I'm not taking any chances with Cerberus scum!" the first quarian yelled.

"Put those weapons down!" the second alien shouted. "Shepard" she began, staring into the commander's eyes. "Is that you?"

"Cerberus rebuilt me, Tali. In return they asked me to investigate these attacks on human colonies."

"You'll pardon us for not taking your word" the first quarian said sternly. He readied his gun; Laura quickly used her biotics to throw the alien's weapon aside.

"We're well within our rights to investigate colonies!" Miranda began. "I'd like to know what the quarians are doing here."

"One of our people was here on pilgrimage. His name was Veetor. We came to find him."

"If Veetor survived the attack, he might be able to tell us what happened" Shepard suggested.

"That's the hope" Tali continued worryingly. "We've seen him, but he might not be in the best state to answer questions. He's jittery. And wounded. When we landed, he hid in a warehouse on the far side of town. We suspect he also programmed the mechs to attack anything that moved."

"Veetor's the only one who can tell us what happened" the commander said. "We need to team up."

"Good idea. You'll need-"

"Wait! There is no way that I am working with these Cerberus mutts!" Prazza exclaimed.

"You'll be working for me." Tali turned back to Shepard and Miranda. "We'll circle around and draw out most of the drones."

"Sounds like a plan. Come on, Miranda."

On the way to the warehouse, Shepard and Miranda got into a few minor scuffles. They eventually made it to the loading bay, near to the warehouse. "Get yourself into cover and I'll open the landing bay doors. Miranda crouched down by the door, and Shepard got behind a collection of scrap in front of it. "Good. Now I'll just-"

The doors blew open with a huge explosion that sent both Miranda and Shepard flying. Frantically, Laura used her biotics and tried to crush the huge mech that came through the hole, but all it did was keep it still. Miranda ran and jumped onto the mech. She tore a chunk of metal off of it's neck and began shooting at it with her pistol. Shepard had time to get up and launch a cryogenic ball at the bot strong enough to freeze it. Laura leapt over the scrap metal and jumped and slammed down in front of the robot, sending it flying. Miranda hopped off and watched the mech grind along the floor and into a heap of metal.

"We have to get to the warehouse!" Shepard yelled. The commander and the officer took off and eventually made it to Veetor's hiding spot. As the opened the door, they saw Veetor in a chair sifting through camera footage. "Veetor?" Shepard called. The quarian didn't answer. Laura took down the feeds so that Veetor could listen. The quarian got up and gasped as he saw Miranda and Shepard. "You're human. Where did you hide? How did they not find you?"

"Who didn't find us?" the officer spoke nervously.

"T-the monsters. The swarms. They took everyone."

"Show us what happened, Veetor." The quarian sat back down in his chair and switched on the feeds. Shepard looked to Lawson and nervously shivered. The two of them stood behind Veetor as he scrolled through the videos. He eventually found the right one – a video from a security feed which showed strange bug like creatures carrying pods around. "What the hell are those things?" Miranda asked, horrified at what she saw. Laura shuddered and finally managed to choke out her words. "They're Collectors. I've heard rumours about how they used to exist. They live beyond the Omega 4 Relay. Mysterious, only a few people have ever seen them."

"If they're working with the Reapers, it would explain where the colonists are going" Lawson added.

"The seekers swarms" Veetor claimed; "no-one can hide. They find you. Freeze you. Then you're taken."

"What happened next, Veetor?" Shepard asked as calmly as she could.

"The monsters took the people onto the ship, and then they left. The ship flew away, but they'll be back for me; no-one escapes!"

"Thank you, Veetor" Miranda said, trying to make the situation more cheery.

"I studied them. The monsters the swarms. I recorded them. Lot's of electro-magnetic signals. Dark energy."

"Get Veetor and let's-"

Tali burst in the room. "You're not taking him anywhere. He's injured; he needs treatment, not an interrogation!"

"Tali's right" Laura spoke. "Miranda and I will take the omni-tool, you take Veetor. Come on, Miranda. Let's get the omni-tool and call the shuttle."

Shepard exited a talk with The Illusive Man, when a mysterious figure walked down the steps. "Hello, Commander." Laura turned around and saw Joker. "Joker!" Shepard ran up to the pilot and hugged him. "Ouch! Not so tight, you might break a bone!"

"Sorry" the commander uttered.

They walked down the corridor together. "I can't believe it's you, Joker!" Shepard said excitedly. "Says the one" the pilot replied. "I saw you get spaced."

"I got lucky" Laura replied. "How'd you get here?"

"It all fell apart without you, Commander. The council wanted everything you did undone. Team was broken up, records were sealed. I was grounded. The Alliance took the one thing that mattered away from me. Hell yeah, I joined Cerberus."

"Do you really trust them?" the commander asked as the two of them stared out of a window into a dark bay. "I don't trust anyone. But they did let me give this a run for it's money-" The lights turned on, revealing the Normandy, born again. "It feels good to be home" Joker said proudly.

"We need to give it a name" Laura replied.

"I'll call it the Normandy SR2" the pilot began, "or Jessie, for short."

 _May 15th, 2185_

 _1500 hours_

 _Normandy SR2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

After a brief introduction to the new ship and A.I (EDI), Shepard was handed a list of people to recruit in order to preserve the galaxy:

 _RECRUIT FIRST!_

 _Mordin Solus – A highly skilled Salarian scientist and doctor, Mordin's skills could be useful against the enemy._

 _Archangel – A nickname for an unknown rogue Turian sniper stationed on Omega and hiding from mercenaries._

 _Jennifer "Jack" aka Subject Zero – A dangerous biotic with similar power levels to Commander Shepard. Stationed on a prison in deep space with several crimes committed._

 _Zaeed Mansani – A mercenary who founded the Blue Suns and shows no remorse for his killings._

 _Kasumi Goto – A sneaky Japanese Human thief who is after wealth and personal gain with a vendetta against rich_ _civilians_

 _RECRUIT LATER!_

 _Samara – A dangerous Asari Justicar hiding on Illium in search of justice through murder._

 _Thane Krios – A deadly Drell assassin who hunts large corrupt political figure on Illium_

 _Tali'Zorah nar Rayya - A loving Quarian engineer who just wants what's best for her people_

 _Kaeli "Raven" Analu – A Hawaiian Human pirate who seems intent on finding answers surrounding several personal events_

After a long relax in her room, Shepard made her way down to Miranda's quarters. The doors swung open, and the officer looked up. "Yes, Commander?"

"I just came to say that I'm warming to you a little. For as much of a snobby woman as you are, you're a fantastic fighter, and I'm glad to have you on my team." Miranda smiled and began to feel a nice sensation in her gut; happiness. "Thank you, Commander."


	3. Recruitment - Mordin

_May 15th, 2185_

 _2145 hours_

 _Captain's Cabin, Normandy SR2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard_

It was quite an early time for Shepard to be going to sleep at, seeing as she usually goes to sleep at about midnight, but the commander had a long road ahead of her, which could only be possible to strive through if she got a good long sleep.

Laura stripped down to just her underwear, breathed a long yawn and clambered into bed. She threw the covers up to her neck, buried her head in the pillows and fell into her slumber.

 _May 16h, 2185_

 _0500 hours_

 _Captain's Cabin, SSV Normandy SR2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard_

Shepard's eyes slowly opened. She blinked to get rid of the excess crust on her eyelids. She pulled her hand out from under her duvet and rubbed her eyes clean. Laura rolled onto her side and stared at the clock; _05:02_. _Fuck!_ She thought to herself. _Oh well. I do need to get some paper work done._

The commander slowly rose out of bed and sauntered over to the bathroom. She removed her clothes, briefly showered and then hopped back out and looked for clothes in her cupboard. Laura picked out a grey off shoulder top, black skinny jeans and knee high boots. Once she had put her clothes on, Shepard walked over to her bedside table and sprayed a few puffs of perfume.

Laura patted herself down and walked over to her computer, where she turned it on and waited for it to load up. Once it did, Shepard searched through her emails and found something:

 _Dear Ms Laura Shepard,_

 _We regret to inform you that the Yeoman aboard the SSV Normandy SR-2 – Kelly Chambers – will have to leave the ships boundaries for a few months. The reason for this departure is that Ms Chambers will be having a baby, and has asked for a few months alone with her partner._

 _It is not guaranteed that once the period of time is over then the Yeoman will come back to the Normandy. She may be moved to another ship, but we ask you to not change your behaviour at this notice._

 _Regards,_

 _Admiral Martin O'Riley, Cerberus Executive_

Laura stopped and stared at the screen. Why hadn't Kelly told her before? She was going to confirm the story.

 _May 16h, 2185_

 _0520 hours_

 _CIC Deck, SSV Normandy SR2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Yeoman Kelly Chambers_

Shepard travelled in the elevator until she reached the CIC deck. Once she did, she called Kelly's name and moved next to her. "I had an email from late last night. It was something about you; it said that you would be leaving the Normandy periodically to have a child. Is it true?" The yeoman swallowed hard and choked out the words. "I-it is, Commander. I'm sorry I didn't tell you, I was too wrapped up in my work." Shepard sighed and smiled warmly.

"It's fine" the commander clarified. "So, how long will you be away?"

"A couple of months, eleven at max."

"11?" Shepard asked curiously.

"Yeah, I need time to look after the baby, as well."

"Of course you do. When do you leave?"

"In a couple of days. I'm sorry, Commander. If I could have told you-"

"It's fine, really – I need to go, I've got piles of paperwork to do."

 _May 16h, 2185_

 _0800 hours_

 _Starboard Lounge, Normandy SR2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

After a couple of hours of filing, writing and filling out forms, Laura walked out into the CIC deck, over to Kelly, pulled the microphone closer to her mouth and spoke into the comm channels. "A message to Miranda; meet me down in the docking bay at the bottom of the ship in five minutes. We're making our first recruitment." Laura pulled away from the microphone and looked at Kelly. "Who are you recruiting?" the yeoman questioned. Shepard jumped down the steps and smiled. "We're recruiting Mordin Solus, just like Miranda suggested."

"I think that's a great idea. He's a doctor, so he might know how to prevent those swarms from attacking you when you're on the ground."

"I know."

Shepard and Miranda met in the docking bay and geared up for battle. Miranda put her weapons on her back, and the commander readied her biotics.

The doors at the bridge opened and the two of them walked down the docking station and along the halls of Omega. Suddenly, an eager salarian greeted Laura and Miranda. "Ah! Welcome to Omega!" the alien exclaimed enthusiastically. "You're new here, aren't you? I can always tell. Allow me to-" A not-so friendly looking batarian walked over to the salarian, looked straight at him and frowned. "Uh, hello Moklan. I was just-"

"Leaving?" the batarian replied. "Go. Now." The happy salarian seemed to follow orders, but not cheerily. He ran away at the first opportunity he got. The batarian spat on the ground and looked at Shepard. "Blasted salarians. You either love them or you hate them. I hate them. Welcome to Omega, Shepard." The commander moved nervously in her spot. "You know who I am?"

"Of course. We had you tagged the moment you entered the Terminus system. You aren't as subtle as you think. Aria wants to know what brings a dead spectre to Omega. I suggest you visit Afterlife and present yourself."

"I'll go in my own time, thank you very much." Shepard brushed past the batarian, Lawson followed.

They both walked up to a mercenary dawning yellow armour kicked a downed batarian. "Please" the victim cried. "You have to help me."

"No one said you could, you shit." The mercenary kicked the batarian again.

"You Zaeed Massani?" Shepard asked.

"Yeah, that's me." Zaeed turned around. "I'm guessing you're commander Shepard. I hear we have a galaxy to save."

"Have you been briefed?"

"I've done my homework."

"Good. Then welcome aboard."

"Pleasure to meet you, Shepard." Massani turned around and kicked the batarian once more.

Shepard and Lawson walked through the doorway into the dingy streets of the Omega station. "This place is a complete and utter shit-hole" the officer said unhappily. Shepard smiled and looked back to her colleague. "It smells like a complete and utter shit-hole as well" the commander joked.

"Charming." The two of them walked up and into Afterlife, the main club on Omega. They sauntered along the corridor until the reached the main door. It opened and the loud music pounded Laura and Miranda's ears. The two of them made their way over to the bar, where the commander called for a drink. "You really think you should be drinking at this time?" the officer said.

"It's only one, and besides, I'll need it for when I meet Aria." The bartender handed Shepard the drink. "Thanks." Laura swigged the hole thing down and put the glass back on the table. She backed away from the table and walked with Miranda up to Aria's private quarters. "That's close enough" the asari spoke calmly. Her men aimed the guns at the commander and her colleague. The bodyguards holstered their weapons and scanned Laura. "If you're looking for weapons, you won't find any."

"Can't be too careful with dead spectres. Could be wearing anyone's face" Aria said sternly. The scan came back as clear for weapons, so Aria sat down and beckoned the commander to do the same. "I was told you'd be the one to come to if I had questions."

"Depends on the questions" the asari replied.

"You run Omega?" Shepard asked. Aria chuckled and broke into a devilish smile. "I am Omega. But you need more. Everyone does, and they come to me. I'm the boss, CEO, queen if you're feeling dramatic. It doesn't matter. There is no ruler and only one rule. Don't fuck with Aria." The asari smiled.

"I'm looking for Mordin Solus. Where can he be found?"

"The salarian doctor?" Aria asked. "Last I heard he was trying to help plague victims in the quarantine zone. I always liked Mordin. He's as likely to heal you as he is to shoot you."

"And Archangel?"

"No-one knows. If you need help, ask the mercs down in the recruitment area. They're searching for him too."

"Thanks for the help."

 _May 16th, 2185_

 _1100 hours_

 _Quarantine Zone, Omega_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

It took a bit of searching, but Laura and Miranda finally found the quarantine zone. Eventually, the two of them came across a human and a turian guard arguing. "I told you to get lost, lady! The plague has the whole zone quarantined. Nobody gets in!"

"I'm human, you ass. Humans are immune to the plague! Now-"

"There's a salarian named Mordin Solus in there who I need to get. Will you let me in?" Shepard asked.

"The doctor" the turian repeated. "Crazy bastard opened a clinic a few months back. The Blue Suns weren't too happy when he moved in. I hear he's trying to deal with the plague. I wish him luck, but the area's still locked down." Shepard sighed and then looked up at the turian. "If you let me in, I'll try and find this ladies belongings."

"You seem like you can handle yourself, with all that gear. I'll let this one slide. Go on in."

"Oh, you're letting them past and not me? What a prick."

O0o

Miranda and Shepard started down a hall, turned a corner and walked down another. At the end of it was a small compound, mainly composed of random bits of scrap metal. A turian popped his head out, stared at the commander and then. "Don't shoot, they're clear." Shepard and Lawson turned to the left and kept walking. Laura briefly glanced at a sign labelled: " _Gozu District_ ", but then made her way up the stairs just at the side of the sign. At the end of the corridor, there was a door with one guard stationed there. "Good luck in there. The Blue Suns and Vorcha are shooting anything that moves." The commander nodded and brought Miranda through the door and down the stairs.

There were two mercenaries at the door on the far side of the room. They heard Shepard and Miranda's footsteps and fired in their direction. "They've seen us!" Miranda exclaimed.

"Get to cover!" the commander replied. As Miranda fired at the blue sun members, she managed to shoot one in the arm and below the mouth. He collapsed on the floor and slowly passed away. Laura charged her biotics and launched a warp at the last remaining enemy. It knocked him unconscious. Shepard rushed over to his writhing body and snapped his neck with her boot. "They've been burning the corpses" the officer spoke.

"They're trying to prevent the plague from spreading" Shepard replied. "Clever, but morally fucked."

Suddenly, Miranda noticed a batarian plague victim sitting against the wall. "Human" he mumbled as the commander and her colleague got closer. "Should have guessed" he choked before coughing. "Bad enough that you infect us with the plague, but now you lack the decency to even wait before I die to come and steal possessions." Shepard crouched down next to the victim. "Okay, firstly I haven't come to steal your possessions, and secondly humans didn't start the plague."

"Of course they..." His sentence drifted off into another cough. "God dammit."

"You need help." Laura reached out her hand, but the batarian brushed it away. "Get off of me, human!"

"We need to find Mordin Solus" Miranda butted in.

"Humans looking for the human sympathizer. I hope the vorcha burn Mordin and his clinic to the ground. I hope you … I hope you … dammit." Shepard quickly administered a dose of medi-gel, which soon cleared up the batarian's throat. "That won't clear the plague, but it will keep it at bay for a couple of hours."

"You … helped me. Why?" the victim asked.

"I hate seeing people in pain. But I need to find the doctor."

"You'll find his clinic easily. It's not too far."

"Thank you. Once I get to him, I'll get him to send help to you."

"Thank you, human."

Shepard and Lawson hacked a door near the victim and walked down the stairs on the other side. They ducked behind cover as they saw some Blue Sun members behind a makeshift barricade. "I'll put them into a singularity" Laura whispered; "and you shoot finish them off." Miranda nodded, and the commander popped her head out and launched a singularity. The two mercenaries were thrown into the air, and the officer finished them off while they were up there.

The two of them made their way over the barricade and through a door on the other side of it. It led down another corridor, which Shepard and her colleague followed. At the end was a large hall with a fight between the Blue Suns and the Blood Pack going on. Laura and Miranda got behind walls. The officer focused on the blood pack, whilst Shepard focused on the blue suns. The commander ran out from cover and hit one mercenary in the back. The two blue sun members turned around and swung for Laura. Shepard ducked under one fist, grabbed one man's wrist and twisted it. The other mercenary tried to hit the commander, but she teleported beside the fist and hit him backwards, forcing him to fall over in shock. Laura put her hand on the last man's face and dissolved it with her biotic power.

All the while, in the background Miranda was shooting at the blood pack members. There were half a dozen, and she had killed four. Shepard helped with the last two, releasing a shockwave that killed them instantly. "Come on" Laura ordered. Miranda followed her commander. At the end of the corridor was Mordin's clinic. The two of them made their way to the salarian's office. "Professor Mordin Solus?" the commander asked. The doctor quickly scanned Shepard. "Hmm. Don't recognize you from area. Too well armed to be refugees. No mercenary uniform. Quarantine still in effect. Here for something else. Vorcha? Crew to clean them out? Unlikely. Vorcha a symptom, not a cause. The plague? Investigating possible use as a bio-weapon? No. Too many guns. Soldiers, not-"

"Mordin. Calm down. We're here to help you."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Commander Shepard, and I'm involved in a critical mission. I need you to come with me. Mission, what mission? No. Too busy to help. Clinic understaffed. Plague spreading too fast. Who sent you?"

"It was Cerberus" Shepard said calmly.

"Cerberus? Unexpected" the doctor spoke briskly.

"They don't have the best reputation, but we – I need your help."

"Why request salarian aid?"

"Collectors are kidnapping human colonies. We're going to find out why and stop them."

"Collectors? Interesting. Plague hitting the slums is engineering. Collectors are the only species with the power to design it. We may have the same goal. But must stop plague first. Need to add cure to fan to distribute cure into air at environmental centre."

"I'll disperse the cure" Laura offered.

"Vorcha near fan. Need to kill them."

"I'll take care of it. Just hand me the cure and I'll put it out there. One thing, I saw a batarian plague victim near the entrance. Can you help him?"

"Risky, but I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you, Mordin." Shepard and Miranda made their way out of the clinic and headed to the fan.

 _May 16th, 2185_

 _1230 hours_

 _Environmental Centre, Quarantine Zone, Omega_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

It took a long while, but Miranda and her commander eventually made it to the environmental centre. "Humans!" the vorcha captain yelled. "They try to stop plague with machines! We break machines! We stop them!" Laura and Miranda moved in closer. "Everyone choke on die! Collectors make us strong!"

"The only person who will choke and die is you when I rip a hole in your throat!" the commander yelled.

Shepard and her colleague crouched behind cover as the boom squad fired at them. Miranda brought out her assault rifle and began shooting back at them. Whilst she did that, Laura charged up her teleport and zoomed up to the higher level where the heavy rocket troopers were. They were both shocked. One vorcha swung at the commander, but Shepard grabbed his arm and threw him on the floor. Another just stood there in shock, so Laura blasted him into a frozen position so that she could run to him, kick him and shatter him into pieces. She looked back and grabbed the vorcha on the ground. Shepard gripped him by the throat, held him over the edge of the platform and finally dropped him to his death. Laura leapt down and landed with a biotic _BOOM_ covering her step. It knocked a few enemies unconscious, but the commander turned around and at the same time activated her biotics, sending the rest of the vorcha flying toward the wall like bowling pins. They landed in a pile, and Laura shot a warp at them, killing them all. The commander entered the cure into the fan and smiled at Miranda.

 _May 16th, 2185_

 _1310 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Yeoman Kelly Chambers_

After the indecent on Omega, Shepard and Miranda had brought the salarian doctor onboard and settled him in. But Kelly had called the commander to her. Laura got to the CIC deck and walked near the galaxy map. "What is it, Kelly? What's the problem?" The yeoman sighed, looked down but finally plucked up the courage to reveal what was bothering her. "You know I said I would be leaving in a couple of days?" Shepard nodded. "Well, I'm going tomorrow."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know! Command wanted me to leave tomorrow."

"Well, I've got a plan. I'll get drinks from the lounge, and you, Miranda and I will have a fun night before you leave. What d'ya say?"

"Sure. That sounds like fun."

"Good!" the commander explained. "Get Miranda to come to my cabin in ten minutes."

A dozen or so minutes had passed, and Kelly, the officer and the commander were in Shepard's cabin, having a drink and talking about whatever they liked. "So what brought you here in the first place, Kelly?"

"Well, I graduated from college with a degree in psychology. I'd never wanted to be in the army, but Cerberus saw my potential and put me through training before finally assigning me to this ship."

"Nice" Shepard said, shifting slightly in her position on the edge of the bed. "I'm sorry, but I need the little girls room" the yeoman said.

"It's up there" Laura replied, pointing past her ship models. Kelly thanked her and ran to the bathroom. The silence in the room grew until neither the officer nor the commander could bear it. "You're a good fighter" Shepard said to Miranda friendly, her warm smile rubbing off on the ice cold queen. "I could say the same to you" Lawson replied. Laura stared at the officer for a few moments before finally putting her palm on Miranda's leg. Lawson smiled and then planted a kiss on the commander. She broke it off, though. "I'm sorry, I—"

"I liked it" the commander replied fleetingly.

"We shouldn't – we're colleagues."

"Come on, don't pretend like you can't feel the connection – I like you, and I know you feel the same about me!" Miranda paused, and then breathed. "I need to think. Tonight is about Kelly, not our fling-"

"It's not a fling!"

"Then what is it then?!" the officer replied.

"Love" Laura replied. At that moment, she saw Miranda blush.

 **Lets get it on.**

 **Author's Note:** **I have got something planned for next chapter, something surprising, as well as something leading in from this chapter. I hope you enjoyed reading, and I speak with you soon.**


	4. Recruitment - Archangel

**A/N: This is the chapter with something surprising in it, so read through and wait for it.**

 _May 17th, 2185_

 _0740 hours_

 _SSV Normandy_

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Yeoman Kelly Chambers_ _

Today was the day the Kelly Chambers had to leave, so Shepard had to be quick. She got out of bed, ran over to the bathroom and hopped in the shower. She quickly scrubbed herself down, shampooed her hair, cleaned it and then got out. Even though she was completely naked, the commander sprinted over to the wardrobe and swiftly threw on the first panties she could find. Laura put on a dark green tank top with sandy yellow slacks and ankle high sand coloured boots. Shepard quickly tied her hair into a loose ponytail and made her way down to the CIC deck. She hurried over to the airlock beside the bridge and was met by Miranda and Joker. "Well" Kelly began, her eyes beginning to cloud. "It seems like this is it."

"We knew each other for longer than anybody else" Miranda spoke. "We were stationed on this ship long before anybody else. I'm going to miss you."

"Same here" Joker continued. "I came onto this ship a little after Miranda, so I know you pretty well. It's sad to see you go." Seeing as Shepard was a little taller than Miranda, she walked behind her and spoke from over her head. "I hardly knew you Kelly, but when I first met you, you hard the warmest smile and the kindest voice; I wish you all the best in your new job." The yeoman looked to the ground, smiled and then looked back up. "Thank you, all of you. I really will miss you." Kelly walked through the airlock door, and it quickly closed, leaving a lasting image of the Yeoman in everybody's mind.

Laura saw the officer sauntering back to her post, so she caught up with her. "Miranda" the commander said, grasping Lawson's arm to stop her from moving. "You said that you needed more time to think about us. You've had more time, so..." The officer lowered her head and sighed. "I'm sorry, Commander. I just don't think it will work out." At that moment, Shepard's world began to crumble, and it felt as if the floor beneath her would collapse. Miranda didn't say anything, and neither did Shepard; Lawson smiled weakly and walked away. Laura just stood there, dazed, until she turned around, walked to the bridge and stood beside Joker. "Take us to Omega."

 _May 17th, 2185_

 _0830 hours_

 _Afterlife, Omega_

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson__

 _Shepard didn't want to work with Miranda at the moment. "I feel bad leaving Mordin behind on his own" Lawson said. Laura nodded her head weakly and continued walking down the halls of Omega until they got to Afterlife. The commander walked over to the bar and ordered a drink. She sat down on a stool and sighed. "Please talk to me, Shepard" Miranda pleaded. The bartender handed Laura a drink; the commander chugged it down and ordered another. "You never gave me a reason" Shepard said over the pounding music._

 _"What?" the officer replied, bewildered by the fact that her commander was still speaking to her. "You never gave me a reason to push me away" Shepard repeated. Miranda sighed and looked at the back of Laura's head, as that was all she could see. "I – we're two completely different people" she began. "You're brilliant and amazing, and I'm just a bitch with an ice-cold heart."_

 _"You got that right" Laura mumbled, sipping her drink, pushing it back to the bartender and walking down to the mercenary recruiting office, seeing as that was where Aria told them to go._

 _"We're here for Archangel" Shepard said as she strode through the door to the office. The batarian looked up her and chuckled. "You and the rest of 'em. OK, I need your ID." Laura handed the recruiter her and Miranda's data. "It all checks out. Let's get this straight; this does not mean you are a part of the blue suns or blood pack. We will not provide you with weapons – it looks like you've got that covered – and the shuttle will be ready to take you to him when you're ready." The commander thanked him and walked back out – but someone caught her eye. "Is this the place to sign up?" a young boy asked. Shepard held her arm out and prevented the teen from moving. "Whoa whoa whoa, how fucking old are you? Like, 17?"_

 _"I'm old enough. I can handle myself, too – seeing as I just got this bad boy." He pulled out a small pistol and waved it around. Laura grabbed the weapon and broke it to prevent it from shooting. "Hey!" the boy exclaimed. The commander grabbed him by the collar and brought her face up to his. "Get your money back."_

 _Shepard and her colleague made their way to the shuttle bay, where the pilot brought them into the car and flew them off to where they needed to be. The commander and the officer exited the vehicle. A blue suns mercenary greeted them at the entrance. "It's about time they sent me someone who looks like they could actually fight. They tell you what you're up against?"_

 _"The recruiter was vague at best" Lawson responded._

 _"We wouldn't get many hires if everybody knew the truth. Archangel's a one man army. He's camped up in the building at the end of the boulevard. He's got the higher ground, and the only way up there is over an exposed bridge. It's a slaughtering ground. But he's getting tired, making mistakes. We'll get him soon."_

 _"What's the plan?" Laura asked._

 _"A small team is waiting to infiltrate his hideout, but we need to draw Archangel's fire so we can move in."_

 _"And that's where we come in?" Miranda replied._

 _"Exactly. You'll be on a distraction team. Head straight over the bridge and keep Archangel busy so the infiltration team can sneak in behind him. Head up to the boulevard and to the third barricade. Talk to Seargant Cathka. He'll tell you when to go in."_

 _"I'll get going" Shepard said. She passed the batarian and made her way down the boulevard._

 _As she walked, EDI tapped into her comm. "The heavy mechs and gunship possess considerable firepower. Weakening them before you leave will improve your chances." Laura took that note and moved down the seemingly endless corridors until she finally reached Sergeant Cathka. "Cathka?" The commander asked. The three guards he spoke to showed that he was behind them. They moved away and Shepard found him. The sergeant stopped fixing the gunship, put his welding rod down and looked at Laura and her colleague. "Sergeant Cathka..." He tapped his visor and changed it from tinted to see-through. "Ah, you must be the group Salkie mentioned. You're just in time."_

 _"In time for what?" Miranda asked._

 _"The infiltration team is about to give us the signal. Archangel won't know what hit him." The batarian moved back over to the gunship. "Do you have any questions? This might be your last chance..."_

 _"No" Laura replied._

 _"That gives me more time to work on this ship. It's still not back up to 100%, so if you don't mind..." The monitor beside him flashed. Cathka looked at it. "We are ready" the comm called._

 _"Check. Bravo team – go go go!" he commanded. His team swiftly left. The sergeant got back to work on the gunship; the commander saw the welding rod and picked it up. "You're working too hard." Shepard jammed the rod into Cathka's back, sending him into a spiralling unconsciousness._

 _May 17th, 2185_

 _1000 hours_

 _The Bridge, Third Barricade, Omega_

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Archangel__

 _Laura and Miranda followed the rest of the distraction team to the bridge. Two men on it were shot down. "Come on" Shepard started, clenching her fists. "Let's give these guys a surprise of their own." The commander and her colleague jogged up the stairs and stopped next to the door to Archangel's post. Laura turned to the officer and whispered; "Gimme your knife." Miranda quickly handed her commander a knife, and she quickly got to work killing the infiltration squad. "Get it open!" Laura ordered Miranda. Lawson ran to the door and began breaking in. Whilst she did that, her commander was busy fighting the rest of the mercenaries with her biotic power. Shepard knelt down, grabbed an assault rifle from a dead man's body and began firing over the chest high wall. She killed three people, and injured two. "I'm in!" Miranda exclaimed. "Come on, let's go!" Laura threw the gun aside and launched a shockwave to kill off any stragglers._

 _Shepard moved in first, swiftly followed by Lawson. "Archangel?" Laura asked. She had to be sure. The mysterious sniper brushed away the comment and aimed his sights on one lone mercenary. He slowly popped his head out of cover, giving Archangel enough time to line up his shot and put a bullet through his brain._

 _The turian propped himself up with his gun, put it by his side and removed his helmet to reveal a familiar turian. "Shepard" Garrus grumbled. "I thought you were dead."_

 _"Garrus!" Shepard exclaimed joyfully. "What are you doing here?"_

 _"Just keeping my skills sharp." The sniper chuckled. "A little target practice." The commander smiled._

 _"You okay?" she asked._

 _"I've been better, but it sure is good to see a friendly face. Killing mercs is hard, especially on my own."_

 _"I have to ask" Shepard began, "how'd you manage to piss off every major mercenary group in the Terminus systems?"_

 _"It wasn't easy" the turian replied cheekily. "I really had to work at it."_

 _"Well" Laura began, moving around the room nervously. "We got here, but I don't think getting out will be as easy."_

 _"No, it won't" Garrus grumbled in response, slowly lumbering up from his seat and standing up right. "That bridge has saved my life. Funnelling all those witless idiots into my line of fire. But it works both ways" he continued, standing next to the commander and looking into the distance. "They'll slaughter us if we try to go out that way. "So we just sit here and wait for them take us out?" retorted Miranda grumpily._

 _"It's not all that bad" the marksman responded. "This place has held them off so far. And with the two of you – I suggest we hold this location, wait for a crack in their defences and then take our chance."_

 _"Sounds like a plan" Laura said happily with a warm smile on her face. Garrus moved up to the window and looked out. "Hmm" he said as he glared through his scope. "It looks like they know their infiltration team failed. Take a look." The turian handed his friend the weapon. "Scouts. Eclipse, I think." Laura looked through the sight and saw a half a dozen mechs heading their way. "Let's get going" Garrus said as Shepard handed him back the sniper rifle. "I'll stay up here. I can do a lot of damage from this vantage point. You … you do what you do best. Just like old times."_

 _Shepard crouched behind cover and lobbed at shockwave at the mechs. They stumbled and stuttered, and the commander then raised them all up and slammed them all down. Garrus quickly finished them off. The commander quickly ran down to the lower layer and saw a crowd of mercenaries storming the fort. The turian picked off two of them. Shepard shot a warp at them to distract them. Miranda fired three clips into the horde, which killed at least half of them. Laura barelled into the group with her biotics, and quickly slammed down, slowing down time around them. The commander punched every single merc until their hearts stopped beating. "They're all dead, Shepard" said Garrus through the comm. "Come back to me shortly."_

 _Shepard and her colleague met back up with the marksman. He sniped a woman at the bridge, and someone stepped over the body. "All right" he began, "let's see how you handle this, Archangel." Suddenly, a heavy mech dropped onto the field. The commander got behind cover and began attacking the bot. Shepard threw a shockwave at the mech which clustered out at the end. Garrus hit it several times, until Miranda handed her commander a grenade, which Laura lobbed under the feet of the bot. It exploded, sending the machine backwards. The marksman lined up his shot and pulled the trigger, breaking through and destroying the mech._

 _Once it was gone, Garrus spoke to his friend. "You're kicking ass, Shepard. They barely touched me. And the explosion from the mech killed Jaroth in the process."_

 _"We've still got the blood back and the blue suns left. Think we can make a break for it?" Shepard asked._

 _"Maybe" the turian responded. "Let's see what they're up to." Garrus lumbered over to the window and looked out. "They've reinforced their side of the bridge, heavily. But they aren't coming over. What are they waiting for?" An explosion cut his sentence short, followed by the alarm going off. "What the hell was that?!" Miranda exclaimed. The marksman checked his omni tool. "Dammit. They've breached the lower level. They had to use their brains eventually. You'd better get down there, Shepard. I'll keep the bridge clear."_

 _"How do I get down to the basement?" the commander asked._

 _"Go down a level" replied Garrus. "The basement door is on the west side of the room, behind the stairs. Good luck."_

 _Shepard and Lawson hurried down to the basement, where they found a large door at the end of the corridor. A horde of blood pack began firing at the commander and the officer, so they fired back. Miranda shot her weapons, and Shepard fought back with her biotics. She threw one vorcha against the wall, cracking his bones, and brought some others into a singularity which quickly exploded, sending them flying. "Miranda!" Laura yelled. "Get that door shut!" Lawson nodded and ran to the door, pressing the button beside it. Shepard focused her power and spewed constant rampant fireballs at her foe until the shutter sealed. "Great" Lawson said. "We need to get back to Garrus. Lead the way."_

 _The commander and the officer rushed back, but were met with a group of blood pack. Shepard still had the knife from earlier, so she leapt into the group and began cutting them down. She flung some against a wall and slit some more. One krogan stood out as the most powerful, so she went for him. "Miranda! Kill the rest of 'em!" Laura yelled. The commander slit the krogan's side, threw the knife up, turned around, grabbed the blade and stuck it in his back. He screamed out; Laura pulled the knife out, tripped him up and cut his face until it wasn't recognizable. Miranda finished off the rest of the blood pack and followed her commander back up to Garrus. "Tough bastards" the turian utter as he saw his friends return. "But we managed to take out Garm and his blood pack."_

 _"Have you fought with him before?" Laura asked._

 _"Yeah, I tangled with him once. Caught him alone, none of his gang to help him. I couldn't get him. I've never seen a krogan regen that fast. He's a freak of nature."_

 _"Only the blue suns are left" Shepard started. "I say we take our chances and fight our way out."_

 _"I think you're right" Garrus responded. "Tarak's got the toughest group, but nothing I haven't faced before. Besides, he won't be expecting us to -"_

 _A gunship appeared in the window. "Dammit!" the marksman exclaimed as he got behind cover. "I thought I killed that thing!"_

 _"They fixed it, but not completely" responded Laura. "I made sure of that." The ship dropped off troops, and they began to fight against their enemies. The commander got out from behind her chest high wall and threw a singularity at the blue suns mercenaries. They were tangled in it's grip, but then Shepard exploded it and threw them out the window. Garrus looked around for the ship; it appeared behind him, yelled his name and blindly fired. It knocked him unconscious. Shepard crouched next to the body. "Garrus!" Laura grumbled, popped her head out of cover and furiously pounded the ship with her biotics. It was too disorientated to fire, and it soon crashed into the building and down into the abyss. The commander walked over to the turian. Suddenly, the marksman gasped for breath. "Garrus!" Shepard exclaimed. "We're getting you out of here, Garrus. Just hold on. Miranda, get the Normandy."_

 _ _May 17th, 2185__

 _1345 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Garrus Vakarian__

 _"Shepard" Miranda began; "we did all we could for Garrus, but he took a bad hit. The docs corrected with surgical procedures and some cybernetics. Best we can tell, he'll have full functionality, but..."_

 _"Shepard." Garrus walked into the room with red scarring on his cheek and a badly chipped armour. "Nobody would give me a mirror, how bad is it?" the turian asked._

 _"Hell, slap on some face paint, and people will be none the wiser." Garrus chuckled, but then gritted his teeth. "Dammit, Shepard. You're making me laugh, it hurts when I laugh." Miranda nodded and left the room. "Frankly, I'm more worried about you, Shepard" the marksman stated. "Cerberus? You remember those sick experiments they were doing?"_

 _"Right now, they're a necessary evil._ _I need all the resources I can get."_

 _"I'm fit for duty whenever you need me, Shepard. I settle in and see what I can do in the forward batteries."_

 _The commander walked down to the galaxy map to check her inbox. It felt empty. She searched through her emails and saw something which caught her attention:_

 _ **Sender: Illusive Man**_

 _ **Message: If this is Commander Shepard reading this, I want you to go down to London, Earth and pick up the new Yeoman. She will be waiting for you at the space port.**_

 _Laura nodded to herself, walked to the bridge and then asked joker to bring her to London._

 _Shepard arrived at the space port and walked down the docking station. She looked around when she got onto the platform, and was tapped on the shoulder. She turned around and saw a woman; slender, dark skin, jet black hair down to her shoulders, and brown eyes. "Commander Shepard?" she asked nervously._

 _"I'm presuming you're the new yeoman for the Normandy?" The woman nodded. "What's your name?" Laura asked._

 _"Traynor, ma'am. Samantha Traynor."_

 _Shepard walked Traynor around the Normandy to get her familiar, and then brought her to her post. "... and this is where you'll be stationed. I leave you alone to get settled in." It wasn't Kelly, but she seemed nice._

 **Author's Note:** **Didn't expect that one, did ya'?! A big ol' thank you to everybody who has favourited and followed this story. Your reviews are always welcome, and I am excited to continue this journey. :)**


	5. Recruitment - Subject Zero

_May 17th, 2185_

 _0010 hours_

 _CIC Deck, SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor_

As Laura walked along the halls, her boots clinked against the metal grating. As she turned a corner, Samantha looked around and smiled warmly. "Hello, ma'am" she said briskly, raising her hand to her head. The commander shook her head and chuckled. "You don't need to do that with me, Traynor. Once you know me, you know I don't like military specifics." Samantha briefly smiled nervously and put her hand by her side. "O-of course, ma'am." Shepard chuckled to herself under her breath. "W-was there something I did wrong?" Traynor asked innocently.

"Call me Laura." Samantha nodded and let silence overthrow their conversation. The specialist didn't know what to say and how to say it under a great military power like commander Shepard. "So, what brings you down here, comman-Laura?" Shepard shrugged her shoulders and smiled at her colleague. "A mix of not being able to sleep and wanting to know more about you. Tell me about yourself, Samantha."

"Well, my parents and I were originally from London, but they enjoyed the freedom of colony life, so they moved off planet. At first, my parents didn't have the money to send me to university, but the Alliance quickly saw my grades and I soon began work on a full scholarship. After that, I just moved from small lab to small lab, working on the little things, until I was stationed on the Normandy SR-2. On this ship, I give you notifications about crew and messages."

"How have you found you first night here?" the commander replied, standing next to Traynor and leaning against the desk. "It's good" Samantha replied briskly. "It feels a bit odd, seeing as I'm used to small spaces, but I'm sure I'll get used to it."

"And how have you gotten settled in?" Laura asked. "Have you spoken to my squad or the crew of the ship?" Traynor nodded happily and spoke; "I've spoken to both. Miranda is nice, but she seems a little grumpy. I've made a friend out of Mordin, seeing as we're both incredibly socially awkward. Garrus has a warm heart, and he even finds the time to make jokes about his own face. As for the crew, I haven't spoken to many of them – Gabby down in engineering is nice. She seems to make friends through insult comedy. Donelly is nice too, even though he's a bit shy and conservative."

"They're good people" Laura replied warmly. "Anyway, I'd better be off. I need my beauty sleep." The commander hopped down from the desk, waved goodbye to the specialist and made her way back up to her cabin.

Once she got there, Shepard sauntered over to her bed in the cabin, gripped the hem of her shirt and pulled it over her head. Then she pulled down her slacks, kicked off her boots and climbed into bed; the sheets were cold, but the mattress was warm. Laura pulled the covers over her shoulder, buried her head in the pillow, turned off the bedside lamp and drifted off.

 _May 17th, 2185_

 _0800 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard_

The commander tossed and turned until she broke from her slumber. She checked the time, climbed out of bed and walked to the shower. She stripped down to just her bare skin, hopped in the shower and then found some new clothes. Once that was done, she went down to the CIC deck and spoke into the comm chatter; "Joker, set a course for the prison ship purgatory – oh, and probe some planets whilst I'm gone. I want to upgrade the ship."

Joker docked the Normandy at the ship. Shepard brought Miranda and Garrus along with her as she walked onto the decks of the prison. The three of them moved along the halls until they met with a group of Turian guards. "Welcome to the purgatory, Shepard. Your package is being prepped, and you can claim it shortly" the guard at the front said. "As this is a high security vessel, you'll need to relinquish your weapons before we proceed."

"I can't do that" the commander retorted.

"Everyone stand down!" a turian yelled as he came through the door. "Commander, I'm Warden Kuril, and this is my ship. Your weapons will be returned on the way out. You must realize this is a standard procedure-"

"I don't give two shits if it _wasn't_ a standard procedure, I'm not surrendering my squad's weapons." Laura and Kuril locked themselves in a staring contest, until the turian sighed. "Let them proceed. Our facility is more than secure enough to handle three armed guests. We're bringing Jack out of cryo. As soon as the funds clear, you can be on your way. If you would be so kind to follow me to outproccessing for the pickup, commander."

The squad followed the turian through the doorway. Kuril turned around and smiled. "Cellblock two. As you can see, we keep tight control over the population. Each prisoner cell is a self contained, modular unit" he said, turned back around and walked normally. "I've blown a few out of the airlocks as an example. The ship is made up of thirty cell blocks identical to this one. We house thousands of criminals. We can put the whole place on lockdown at a moments notice." The turian led the commanders squad down the halls. "Have there been any escape attempts?" Garrus asked.

"We're in space" Kuril retorted. "They have nowhere to go and they know it. But still we exercise extreme caution, these are dangerous individuals. We have many ways to control the population. I'm going to confirm that the funds from Cerbeus are clear. Outprocessing is just at the end of this hall."

Kuril left Shepard and her team to walk down the hall. Suddenly, Laura stopped at an interrogation room, loud with the cries of a prisoner. "There's no excuse for beating a prisoner who can't fight back" the commander said to the guard stationed beside the door. "This is a massage compared to what his victims went through" the turian replied.

"This degrades your soul as much as it degrades his fucking face" Shepard responded.

"We have orders."

"You aren't important enough to make your own decisions?"

"I admit, I sometimes get tired of this. Does this really get us anything useful?"

"Once someone has had enough, they'll say anything to make the pain go away. If he's not saying anything, he's got nothing to hide." The guard nodded and tapped into his comm; "Call it off. For now, at least." Shepard smiled and walked along the corridor, through outprocessing and opened the door at the far side of the room; **it was a cell.** "My apologies, Shepard. You're more valuable to us as a prisoner than a customer" Kuril spoke through the comm.

"Before I do, can I just ask one thing of you?" Shepard said.

"Go on..." the turian replied suspiciously.

"Fuck off and die."

"Activate systems!" Kuril yelled. A group of guards scattered through the doorway at the entrance to the room. Shepard, Garrus and Miranda got behind cover. Garrus shot a bullet into the group, and Miranda fired a clip, whilst Shepard lobbed an explosive ball of biotic power into the group. A wave of them fell to the ground, either unconscious or dead. Miranda finished off the last of them, and then followed her commander out of the room. They turned a corner and were met with more resistance. Laura quickly barrelled a shock wave through the crowd of turians, smashing the glass behind them and sending them tumbled to their deaths. The squad rushed into the room at the end of the hall. Inside, there was a technician. Miranda mowed through his torso with a single clip.

Shepard walked up to the control panel on the desk. "If we hack this, every door in the cellblock opens" Miranda spoke.

"It's the only way to get Jack out of cryo" Garrus replied. Laura tapped into the controls; two mechs in the room beneath them started up their systems and watched as a complex set of mechanisms twisted and turned the cryo station, lifting it up to reveal the convict. "That's Jack?" Garrus murmured. The human convict was a woman with a body covered in tattoos, with only a pair of orange slacks and a small buckle barely covering her breasts. Shepard focused on the woman and jumped when Jack wriggled suddenly. She snapped out of the cuffs on her arms and broke the one holding her down by her neck. She stumbled forward, regained her balance and growled at the mechs. She powered up her biotics and barrelled through the bots, causing them to explode, sending the entire station into a frenzy. "She seems almost as powerful as you, commander!" the operative exclaimed.

"We have to get down there!" Vakarian continued.

The three of them got down the stairs to the left and walked through what remained of the cryo room. "All guards!" Kuril yelled through the comm. "Restore order! Use lethal force, but don't kill Jack!" Shepard got into a large shipping room, tinted orange by the buzzing lights. "This girl is powerful, but she lacks subtlety" the marksman said. A small crane crushed a mech below, leaving the guards to fend for themselves. Shepard powered up, leapt off of the balcony, teleported above the group of turians and slammed down as hard as she could, killing almost everyone around her. A huge metal pane slowly fell on the commander. "GO!" Laura yelled to her team. They backed away and watched as a parade of shrapnel and dust coated their commander. Laura emerged from the wreckage holding a large chunk of sheet metal with her biotics. She lobbed it at the rest of the guards and led her squad down the halls.

"All guards to cellblock one!" Kurin shouted through the comm channels. Laura opened the door and saw prisoners being slaughtered. One popped his head out from behind a crate and was shot in the head by the turian commander. "You're valubale, Shepard!" Kurin said, firing a weak shot at the ground under the commander's feet. She moved behind a blockade and commanded her squad to do the same. "I could have sold you and lived like a king! But you're too much trouble. At least I can recapture Jack!"  
"Not happening!" Laura retorted as the turian shot at the cover. "You're a two-bit slave trader and I don't have time for it."

"I do the hard things civil governments are unwilling to! This is for the good of the galaxy!"

From behind cover, Shepard spoke to her crew; "Miranda and Garrus, you hold off the ground troops whilst I go straight for Kurin."

"But that's suicide!" Garrus exclaimed.

"I've lived past one death, so I can survive another!" Laura focused hard and cloaked herself. She ran out of cover, past some guards, leapt up into the air and smashed through the turian's sheild. He backed himself against a wall and gasped as the commander appeared. In a split second, Shepard pulled back her arm, clenched her fist and threw it at the turian. Kurin ducked under, allowing Laura to hit the wall behind him. But Shepard was relentless, swinging for Kurin's head. Instinctively, the turian blocked the punch and countered with an upward cut to the commander's neck. The dull thud landed and the turian watched his foe stagger back, cursing to herself. "You... little..." Shepard took a lurching step forward with each word, and on the third one she swung: " _fucker!_ " Unfortunately, the hit was too much of a slug. Laura could tell that. Kurin chuckled wolfishly and ducked under the punch. The turian went in for a shot with his rifle, but the commander shoved him off. Seeing him scoot back so far against the weight of it gave her a split second of time. She covered the distance between them. Threw three more punches that did land. Kurin fell. Then he stood again. Seeing the turian rise after the commander's strong punches was something she didn't want to see. She swung, but Kurin dodged. She swung again, and Kurin dodged against.

At last, Shepard unsheathed her knife and cut the air in front of the turian. She jabbed him, but he deflected the blade with his armour plating. Laura retracted her arm, but quickly came in from the side. The knife contacted Kurin's heavy armour. He moved his arm in a semi circular motion above his head and pushed the blade away on the other side of his body. The commander quickly regained control of the situation and swung the knife at the turian's head. It cut through the hide on his cheek. He staggered backwards. "Bitch" he mumbled. In almost an instant, he swung his head forward. It colided with the commander's forehead and caught her off guard, knocking her down. She dropped the knife; she reached for it, but her foe kicked it away. Instinctively, Laura looked for the nearest thing which could be used as a weapon. She suddenly noticed a small pipe; she ripped it off with her biotics and brought it to herself. She grabbed hold of it, tripped the turian up and slowly got up herself. She raised the pipe above her head and readied herself. Kurin screamed. "Oh, no no no no no-!" The cried for mercy were cut short; Shepard slammed the rusty metal pipe down on the turian's face. _Again. Again. Again. Again._ Laura threw the pipe aside, stepped over Kurin's lifeless corpse and coughed up blood on the floor. She struggled to catch her breath. The commander picked up her knife, wiped the blood from her lip with her sleeve and limped back to her squad.

 _May 17th, 2185_

 _1000 hours_

 _Docking Bay, Prison Ship Purgatory_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Convict Jack, Executive Operative Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian_

In the docking bay, Jack met with a group of guards and barrelled through them. Then she looked out of the window at the Normandy and gasped. "Cerberus." The convict scampered around until she saw a guard. Before she could even touch him, he was shot by Shepard and her squad. "What the hell do you want?!" Jack exclaimed.

"To rescue you" Shepard coughed. "My name is Shepard, and I want to take you off of this ship."

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You're Cerberus."

"I'm here to ask for your help" Laura replied weakly.

"You show up in a Cerberus frigate to take me away somewhere. You think I'm stupid?"

"Look at the options!" the commander retorted. "This ship is going down in flames. We can get you to safety, and we need your help."

"Look, if you want me to come with you, make it worth my while." Shepard rolled her eyes and sighed unhappily. "What d'ya want?"

"I bet your ship's got lots of Cerberus data bases. I want to look at those files, see what they've got on me. You want me on your team, get me those data bases."

"I'll give you full access" Laura replied.

"Shepard, you're not authorized to do that!" Miranda exclaimed. The convict chuckled. "Oh, it upsets the cheerleader. Even better. Let's go."

 _May 17th, 2185_

 _1000 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Convict Jack, Executive Operative Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian_

After a brief "chat" with Jack, Shepard went into the sick bay to get help for her battle wounds. "No bruising, no swelling, minor cuts..." doctor Chakwas mumbld to herself, moving her cold hands across the commander head and neck. "It looks like you'll be fine, commander."

"Really?" Shepard replied. "Thank you, doctor."

"No need. Now, I just need to get you a plaster..." The doctor sifted through the drawers and picked out a packeted plaster. She pulled it out and laid it on the commander's scratch. "Unfortunately, I can't do anything about your lips, so you'll have to put up with it."

"That's fine. Thank you again, doctor." Laura got down from the medical table and walked out into the CIC. She wandered over to the specialist and tapped her on the shoulder. "Oh. Hey, Shepard" Traynor said. "It was apparently tough down there. How's Jack settling in?"

"I haven't checked on her yet." Suddenly, Samantha looked at the commander and saw her lip. "Your lip!" she gasped, laying her finger tips on the cut. Laura gritted her teeth and the specialist quickly retracted her hand. "I'm sorry, Shepard. I-"

"No no, it's fine. You were just trying to help. You have really soothing fingers, by the way."

"Thanks, I guess." It was an odd compliment, but Traynor's had weirder.


	6. Recruitment and Loyalty - Kasumi

__May 17th, 2185__

 _ _1200 hours__

 _ _Zakera Ward, Citadel__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Operative Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian__

 _After a hearty breakfast, Shepard came to the Citadel with her crew. The Normandy zoomed into the arms and docked at the Zakera Ward. As Laura looked for somewhere to contact Kasumi, she realized that it wasn't the Citadel she knew. The commander tapped into an information terminal. The screen fizzled and on the screen appeared a mysterious hooded figure. "Please tell me your password, commander Shepard." At that moment, Laura thought back to when she read over the dossier. Packed under a load of files were advantages and disadvantages of the team. On Kasumi's file, it was said that people needed a password to speak to her. The commander tried to think of the password, and then she remembered it._

 _"Silence is golden" Shepard replied._

 _"Good to finally meet you, commander Shepard" the assassin said, seeming to relax._

 _"Has Cerberus filled you in on the mission?" Laura asked._

 _"Honestly, I'm shocked they didn't come to see me earlier. My fault for being hard to find, I guess."_

 _"So, what brought you to Cerberus?"_

 _"Long story. Short version, they were trying to trace me, so I tailed them to find out why. Turns out they needed me for an important mission, and they were offering a serious signing bonus. What can I say? I needed help with a deal, so I took it."_

 _"I assume this deal is something I should know about?" Laura asked._

 _"Yeah, I guess it slipped their minds. I'm looking for my old partners greybox. A man named Donovan Hock took it, and I'm planning to get it back."_

 _"If that's what Cerberus promised you, we'll get it done."_

 _"It'll be fun. And, if you're lucky, you won't even have to use those biotic powers I've heard so much about." The small terminal retreated into the floor, and, just as Shepard and her squad were about to move out, Kasumi looked over from the rafters and smiled. "We should probably wrap this up. You look pretty silly talking to an advertisement. See you on the ship, Shepard."_

 _ _May 17th, 2185__

 _ _1230 hours__

 _ _SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Operative Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor__

 _Back on the Normandy, Laura was chatting with Traynor about Kasumi. "That Kasumi is an interesting addition to the crew" the specialist said, "I can see why she's good at her work … she never reveals anything meaningful about herself. It's all on the surface. It'll being a challenge getting to know who she really is."_

 _"Yeah. Anyway, I'd better get to work" the commander insisted. "I need to get that woman on our side." With that, Shepard walked up the stairs and stared into the galaxy. "Joker. Let's go to Bekenstien."_

 _ _May 17th, 2185__

 _ _1400 hours__

 _ _Bekenstein__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Kasumi Goto__

 _The car which was bringing them to Hock's party zoomed through the air. "Looking good, Miss Alison Gunn" the thief said cheekily. "Hock won't be able to keep his eyes off you."_

 _"I assume Alison Gunn is my cover?" Shepard replied._

"You run a small but talented band of mercs in the Terminus systems. Precisely the type of person Hock respects. I took the liberty of giving you a reputation. Papers, witnesses, article in badass weekly. Just don't start talking business with him, and you'll be fine."

"So I assume I'm wearing this getup for a reason?" the commander asked nervously.

"You'd look pretty strange at a social gathering in armour, don't you think?" Kasumi turned to Shepard, blushed and smirked. "You look great! You should wear this stuff more often."

"Thanks, I think. So what's the plan?"

"You have been waiting patiently. Our friend Hock is throwing a party for his closest friends. A couple dozen of the worst liars, cheaters and mass murderers you'll ever want to see, all bringing gifts as a tribute to the man himself. Our tribute is a lovely statue of your old friend Saren, rendered with loving detail and filled to the brim with our weapons and armour. Once inside, we'll make our way to Hock's vault door, somewhere in the back of the ballroom. Then we case the security and start peeling away the layers. The statue should be there, waiting for you to crack it open and arm up. And then we just waltz into the vault and take back Keiji's greybox. And I'll finally get a chance to say goodbye."

"You've worked really hard on this" Shepard replied warmly. "Keiji must've meant a lot to you."

"Was I that obvious? Keiji's greybox holds a lot of priceless, personal memories. It's all that remains of who he was. But the secret he discovered was dangerous. I wouldn't bring you here if it wasn't."

"This ought to be interesting."

"That's what I'm hoping for."

Kasumi and the commander landed next to the open air pool in the "garden". Shepard stepped out, let the thief out and shut the door behind her. The two of them saw the golden statue of Saren being unloaded, but they quickly focused on the task. "After you, Ms Gunn." Laura and Kasumi began walking along the path, but were quickly stopped by security. "Excuse me, ma'am. There seems to be an issue with the -"

"Is something the matter here?" said a man in a white tuxedo – presumably Hock – as he came down the steps. "No, Mr Hock. Just doing a scan."

"I don't believe we've met" Donovan started, turning to Shepard and Goto. "Donovan Hock."

"Alison Gunn. A pleasure." Laura reached out her arm to shake the man's hand, but he didn't shake it back. Instead, he walked over to the guard beside the statue. "Sir, scanners aren't picking anything up."

"Hmm" Hock grumbled in response. "I don't think our guests would come all the way from Illium just to cause trouble. Do you?" The guard shook his head and watched Donovan walked back over to the commander. "You may pass, Ms Gunn, with my apologies. But I must ask your companion to remain outside. You understand, I hope."

"But – this lady. She is my fiancé, and her name is … Amaya Tanaka."

"Ah. Your lover. It never said you were engaged on your dossier" Hock retorted suspiciously.

"Not many people know." A moment of silence filled the space between them until Donovan finally spoke out. "Of course. Once again, my apologies. You can both enter." Shepard smiled, wrapped her arm around the thief's and walked into the building. "Your fiancé, eh? Well..."

"I had to think of something!" the commander whispered.

"No, no. I like it. Now, I'll stay out of sight and keep in contact with you through radio. You'll have to do all the talking. Don't muck this up." And with that, Kasumi was off.

"We'll need to find that door and case through security. We'll figure out the next step then." Laura walked through the halls, on the way overhearing everything that makes this people evil. The commander explored the building until she ran into a small pass which led under the floor. _This must be it!_ She thought. Shepard moved near one of the walls and it fizzled away. Kasumi appeared beside her and gasped. "Very nice" the thief said in awe. "There's more here than I expected." Laura looked at the statue of the late Saren; it seemed to be looking right back at her. "Password protected voice lock. Kinetic barrier. DNA scanner – looks like an EX-700 series. Everything a vault needs to be impenetrable."

"Is this going to be a problem?" asked Shepard finally focusing on something other than the statue. Kasumi chuckled, "Please! Remember who you're talking to! We'll need to get a voice sample for the voice lock. You'll have to go chat up Hock for that. We'll have to find a password. DNA? Child's play. We'll find plenty of that in his private quarters. And the barrier? Cut the power, we'll just have to find the source. Let's get to it."

Shepard made her way outside and clambered over a barricade to get to Hock's quarters. Laura lifted her blade from her sheathe, tip-toed closer to the nearest guard, close enough to ram the knife through his throat. He choked his last breath. The commander dragged his limp body around the corner and laid it against the wall. Two more remained. "I'll take the right, you take the left" Goto said through the comm. Shepard cloaked her entire body, got behind the left guard and, on the count of three, pushed him into the rushing waters below. Kasumi quickly dispatched the final guard and smashed through a window close by. Laura followed her through the window and into another room. The two of them looked to the left and ran into Hock's bedroom. "Look for anything that could have Hock's data on. Just make it quick and quiet."

Shepard scanned the sofa. "Aha!" she exclaimed happily.

"You found a sample?" the thief asked.

"No! A credit chit!" The commander looked for more. She scanned a pile of books and tools. "No DNA here" Kasumi said. "But it does look like he's been trying to crack Keiji's greybox. He hasn't done it yet." Shepard sifted through everything else until she came across an empty wine glass. Goto quickly scanned it. "A saliva sample. Brilliant! Let's get going." The thief followed Laura out of the room, but Shepard suddenly heard voices. "Someone got in. But how?" one said.

"They must've jumped down, killed the guards and broken through the window" another replied. The commander crept up the stairs, cloaked herself again and walked behind one guard. She rammed her knife through his shoulder. The other guard threw a punch, but Shepard left the blade in the man's shoulder, gripped her foe's fist and countered it with an upward punch with impacted his chin and made him fall to the floor. The man with a knife in his skin slowly clambered up and swung a right hook towards the commander. Laura ducked under it, took the knife, grabbed his wrist and twisted it behind his back. She turned him around and kicked him through the windows and into the ocean.

The door the two men were guarding was now accessible, so Kasumi quickly cloaked and let Shepard walk back into the building. She walked over to the security room door, hacked through it, walked down the corridor and entered the room at the end. "Hey!" a guard exclaimed. "You're not supposed to be in here!" Laura smashed through the glass pane in the centre of the room, hit one man in the face and kicked another. Once they were down, Goto uncloaked. "Hmm. I have an idea. See what you can find." The commander nodded, saw a datapad, came over to it and sifted through it:

 _-Nance:_

 _I have that problem, too. So many passwords around here, can't keep them straight. The password for tonight is **PERUGGIA** , so it's not even that easy to remember..._

Laura put the pad down and turned to Kasumi. "Got something?" the thief asked.

"The password is 'Preuggia'."

"Hmm. That's the name of the man who stole the Mona Lisa. Nice. We still need to voice sample from Hock." Shepard nodded and walked back out into the party. She strutted over to Donovan and smiled. "There he is" Goto said through the comm. "Keep him talking long enough to allow me to get a voice sample. Pull out the charm on this one, Shep. Whenever you're ready." Laura smirked. Hock turned around and shook her hand. "Ms Gunn. I hope you're enjoying the party. Where's Amaya?"

"Ama – oh, yes. She's just admiring the art" the commander replied.

"It's wonderful, isn't it? Oh, I hope the upset from earlier didn't sour the evening."

"I understand with the security, but who would dare try and break into Donovan Hock's home?"

"Gunn, in our line of work, we attract a certain element. Few understand the pains we take to keep the barbarians at bay. People these days want comfort, entertainment, love. They don't see that the galaxy is fragile. They only have to worry about the simple luxuries. Why? Because people like you and I are doing the terrible things that keep the galaxy spinning. Let's hope that there will always be a market for the things we do." Everyone who had listened to Hock delivered his speech began clapping. Over the loud thudding of hands, Kasumi spoke through the comm. "I said get him talking, and you got him talking. I've got enough of a sample, let him go."

"Enjoy the party, Ms Gunn."

"Let's go crack that voice scanner."

With that, Shepard walked back down to the vault, where she saw a cable. "It looks like the cable runs through here" the thief stated. "I'll set your omni-tool to scan for electro-magnetic fields." Immediately after she said that, the cable glowed orange. Laura followed the cable to a small statue back at the party. The commander pulled it, and the small screen with a moving image of fire pulled back to reveal a control panel. "Hold on a sec." Kasumi used her omni-tool for something unbeknownst to Laura; the controls popped. "That should take care of the barrier." Goto cloaked again, but quickly reappeared once Shepard was back in the vault. "That got it. The barrier's down." Laura entered the DNA sample and the machine said: " _Welcome Mr Hock._ " The commander stepped over to the microphone. " _Password required_."

"Peruggia" said another machine in Hock's voice.

" _Voice ID accepted. Welcome Mr Hock._ " The door to the elevator turned green. "I'll check for security cams. Go ahead and get dressed." Goto walked into the elevator and hacked into the camera, making it so that it was unable to detect lifeforms. Kasumi walked over to Shepard, who unpacked the armour. Goto took the weapons and quickly looked away. The commander stripped down to just her underwear and then clambered into her armour. "Are you done yet?" Kasumi asked, subtly peeking through her hands. "Yes. You can look know." The thief pulled her hands from her eyes as Shepard just adjusted her chestplate. The two of them wandered into the elevator and sighed as the door closed.

Laura and Kasumi walked out into the vault."So this is Hock's vault? Very nice. This scanner will hone in on the greybox. It's not that far" Goto insisted, handing the commander a small scanning device. Laura lightly sifted through the room until she laid eyes upon Lady Liberty's head. "How in the world did he get Lady Liberty's head? Damn you, Hock!" Shepard turned around and saw a weapon on one of the podiums. "That's a Kassa Locust" the thief began. "No, THE Kassa Locust! The gun that killed two presidents. Gorgeous." Goto picked up the gun and holstered it on her belt. "And there's the greybox" Laura said, picking up a small cold box in her hand. "Oh my god" Kasumi whispered; she pulled up her omni-tool and tried to access it, but something interrupted her. Or someone.

"Don't bother, Ms Goto. It's codelocked" said Hock via a huge screen on the wall. "I had a feeling that was you at the door. I knew if it was really you, you'd find it easy to get into my vault."

"You know me" she replied. "I don't like to disappoint."

"I need what's in your graybox, Kasumi. You know I'm willing to kill you for it. I'll admit your skills are impressive." Shepard trailed off as she focused on a huge statue. "You got into my vault like I'd left it open, but you're still going to – ah!" Hock exclaimed when he saw one of his many statues get shot into dozens of shards. "How much would you say that was worth? Fifteen thousand credits? That shut him up." Kasumi attempted to access the greybox again, but the door at the end of the room opened and guards poured out. Kasumi fired at them before crouching behind cover. Shepard launched balls of raw biotic power at the group, which distracted them, giving Goto just enough time to kill half of them. Laura quickly teleported towards the group and slammed down as hard as she could. The men were dead, and two more statues were destroyed. "Those probably equated to fifty thousand credits, Hock."

"I've checked the blueprints" the thief spoke, "there's a landing pad to the east. Let's get out of here!"

"Joker, bring the shuttle in, now!" Shepard yelled through her radio.

Kasumi and Laura moved into the next room, where the shutters opened to more guards. Goto quickly mowed through the ground troopers and hid from the heavy mech. The commander ran out onto the battlefield, leapt up onto the back of the bot and jammed her knife in it's circuit boards. Soon enough, it had fallen. The two of them quickly ran down the corridor, up the stairs and out to the landing pad. The door opened, and Kasumi gasped as she saw Donovan's chopper. "You could have done this the easy way, Goto. Now allow me to show you the hard way!" The thief and the commander ducked behind cover as the ship fired. Joker tapped into Shepard's comm. "Commander! We can't land! There's a heavy life signature on the extraction zone!"

"We know, Joker. We're dealing with it!" Shepard raised her head over cover and fired her biotics at the machine. Kasumi did the same, only with her guns. Through all the blinding fire, Hock launched a missile, which missed Laura by a few meters and barrelled through the roof of the building behind her. Shepard focused her energy and slammed the helicopter in the party building beside the landing pad. The chopper landed with a loud crash. It was engulfed in flames as it skidded along the "garden", until it eventually reached the edge and toppled into the sea. The commander breathed a sigh of relief. "Come in, Joker. You are clear to land."

On the shuttle, Kasumi toyed around with the greybox for a while until Shepard let her activate it. Goto tapped into the interface so it was more like real life. A hologram appeared before her. "Kasumi" it said.

"Keiji?" the thief replied, but it was just a recording.

"If you're hearing this, it's because I'm dead. The information we found is all here." As he said that, a row of pictures appeared. "It's big, Kasumi. If the council ever got wind of this … the Alliance would be implicated. Kasumi .. I encrypted the information to keep it safe. And I uploaded the encryption key to your greybox, so no-one could ever get the whole package. But if I'm dead, and if anyone knows about this … then I've made you a target, my love. I'm so, so sorry."

"Keiji..."

"I know you, Kasumi. You'll want to keep these memories forever. But you don't need some neural implant to know I'll always be with you. Please, Kasumi. Destroy these files. There's nothing more I can do to protect you."

"I – I can't do that! This is all that's left!"

"Goodbye, Kasumi. I love you." Kasumi went to hug the hologram one last time, but it disappeared before she could do so, leaving her alone again.

"You know it's what he wants" Laura said sorrily. "He wanted you to destroy the information to keep yourself safe."

"I know, but it's all I have left of him" Goto replied, looking at the picture of Keiji one last time.

"If it's easier" Shepard began, "I could do it for you."

"I – okay, just get it over with. Please." The commander stepped over to the terminal and slowly watched all of the data fizzle away.

 _ _May 17th, 2185__

 _ _1900 hours__

 _ _SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor__

 _"I feel so bad" Shepard said as she consoled with Traynor._

 _"You offered to delete it, commander. Don't blame youself."_

 _"I know, but … that's it. I'll take everyone out for drinks to cheer everybody up."_

 _"Alright. Can I come?"_

 _"Of course."_

 _"Good. What are you waiting for, then?"_

 _ _May 17th, 2185__

 _ _2100 hours__

 _ _Dark Star Longue, Zakera Ward, Citadel__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Kasumi Goto, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Zaeed Massani__

 _After a while, Shepard had asked everybody if they wanted drinks. Only a few people said no; Jack told her to fuck off, Joker just said no and Mordin still had to work on the cure._

 _"Bottoms up!" Laura exclaimed, clinking her glass against everyone else's. She took a big swig and smiled at everybody. It was everybody's eight drink, so people were getting pretty tired. Shepard looked to Vakarian and smiled. "You tired out, Vakarian?" she asked wolfishly. Garrus put his glass down on the table and smiled weakly. "N-no" he replied, slurring his words, "I'm just … bored. That's it. Bored." The commander rolled her eyes, sipped more of her drink and then put it back down. "Excuse me, everyone. I just have to use the little girls room." With that, Shepard got up from her seat, shuffled out from beside the table and made her way to the ladies toilets. She opened the door, walked into a cubical, locked it behind and sat down on the toilet. The commander went to the toilet, pulled her jeans back up, flushed and walked back out. She stuck her hands under the tap and washed them. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Traynor. "Oh. Hey, Samantha."_

 _"Hey."_

 _"Why aren't you with everybody else?" Laura asked, pulling her hands up from the sink and drying them._

 _"Drunken company is irritating. I would much rather spend time with you."_

 _"How are you sure I'm not drunk?" Laura asked, grabbing a small breathmint from beside the sink._

 _"You're the only one with functioning bloody speech. And, plus, you haven't said or done anything embarrassing."_

 _"Maybe I'm just a stable drunk" Shepard said, sucking on the mint._

 _"OK then, I'll find someone else to talk to, shall I?" the specialist asked rhetorically, pushing open the door slightly._

 _"No, no! I like having you here." The commander clambered onto the sink stand and sat down. "Lemme ask you something, Traynor. What do you think of the crew?"_

 _"Well, Miranda's creative, Jack's … destructive, Kasumi's quiet, Garrus is flirtatious, Zaeed is hardened-"_

 _"And me?"_

 _"Charasmatic."_

 _"Ha! Not fucking likely!" Samantha and Shepard gazed into each other's eyes until the specialist snapped out of it. "Anyway, I'd better..."_

 _"Yep, sure. Fine." With that, Traynor was off in a flash, leaving Laura to cringe herself into a black hole._


	7. Horizon

**Author's Note:** **As always, reviews are appreciated. :)**

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _0400 hours__

 _ _Shepard's Cabin, SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard__

That night was crazy. It trailed on for hours, until the first people starting stumbling back to the Normandy and waited in the ship for everybody to leave. The first person to leave was Garrus, so he was tired after all. Then more people flooding out, until it was only Laura and Kasumi left, having a drink off to pass the time. Eventually, Shepard bailed out and waited in the Normandy for Goto to have her last drink.

O0o

The commander woke to the sound of a blaring alarm ringing in her ears. It wasn't a gentle interruption, it was a loud one. "All right! All right!" Laura quickly rose her head from the comfortable pillow and lazily clambered out of bed. The alarm seemed to be coming from her laptop, so she briskly stumbled over to her desk and tapped at the holographic interface. A small message popped on the screen. "Shepard? Laura, are you there?" Traynor asked nervously.

"Yes, yes. I'm here. Why are you calling me this early in the morning?"

"The Illusive Man wants to speak with you; it seemed urgent." Laura sighed, slouched her back and leaned in closer. "OK. I'll be down in about half an hour, just let me have a shower first." Shepard turned off her laptop and lumbered over to the shower.

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _0425 hours__

 _ _CIC Deck, SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, The Illusive Man__

After her shower, Laura quickly threw on the first set of military clothing she saw and headed down to the briefing room. She walked into the centre of the room as it descended into the floor and was holographically projected into The Illusive Man's base.

"Shpeard" he huffed as he smoked a cigarette. "You took your time."

"I had business" the commander briskly retorted. "Anyway, why in the hell would you drag me down her at this time?"

"I think we have them!" The Illusive Man exclaimed. "Horizon – one of our colonies in the Terminus Systems – just went silent. If it isn't under attack, it soon will be. Has Mordin delivered the countermeasure for the seeker swarms?"

"I haven't checked on him."

"Well, let's hope he works well under the pressure." The man dabbed his cigarette into the ash tray and sighed. "There's something else you should know. One of your former crew, Ashley Williams – she's stationed on Horizon." At that sudden moment, Laura thought back to her shower and shuddered. "Send the co-ordinates" the commander replied. "We'll head there soon."

"This is the most warning we've ever had, Shepard. Good luck."

As the orange hue around her settled, Laura looked up to the comm. "Joker. Set a course for Horizon. I've got to go see the professor."

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _0445 hours__

 _ _CIC Deck, SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Mordin Solus__

The commander walked down to the professor's room and smiled. She stood beside Mordin and stared into a small enclosure with a minute flying bug in it. "Tell me you have something" Shepard spoke. The salarian looked up to the commander, smiled, and then walked back to his post. "Yes."

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _0330 hours__

 _ _Horizon__

 _ _Gunnery Cheif Ashley Williams__

Ashley walked along the grass with her friend, but it wasn't a nice chat. "Lilith!" the chief began. "We've got a problem."

"Still can't calibrate the targeting matrix?" Lilith responded as the budged a man out of their way.

"Those defence towers are useless if we don't figure it out!"

"Sorry, chief. Getting our comm systems back online is our priority."

"Yeah, OK. Surprised people haven't tried to blame that one on me, too" Ashley replied, stopping and standing still.

"People out here don't trust the Alliance. Nothing personal."

Suddenly, more and more colony members including Ashley and Lilith stared up at the sky as a large silhouette broke through the clouds."What is that?" Lilith asked rhetorically. The chief dismounted her rifle from her back and held it steady. She glared through the scope, but remained still despite what she'd seen. "Get everyone to the safehouse" Ashley ordered sternly.

Swarms of black mist seemed to come towards the colonists. "I'll cover you, run!" the chief instructed again. The members of the colony began running. Ashley fired into the horde of mysterious black specks, but it did nothing; they came closer until they finally struck. Lilith fell, but Williams quickly got her back up. One of the bugs embedded it's jaw into the chief's shoulder. Ashley quickly pulled one out and tried to run, but she froze in place. Lilith looked at the still body of the chief and screamed. Someone grabbed her by the wrist and began running down the path towards the safe house. The man she was running with was paralysed as well, but Lilith kept running. She too eventually succumbed to the paralysis, tripping over her own feet and being impaled through the collar. Through her dazed vision, she saw the rest of the colonists frozen in place before she was ravaged by the creatures.

Collectors raided the place, searched it from top to bottom for bodies to take, picking apart almost every part of the colony.

In a mysterious room, a large headed Collector stared into the core of the ship. In a deep raspy voice, he spoke. "Assuming control." He took hold of a random ground trooper's mind and used it as his own, scouring the battlefield for humans. Suddenly, the Collector shook his head and began speaking. "We are the Harbinger of their perfection. Prepare these humans for ascension."

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _0530 hours__

 _ _Horizon__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian__

The Normandy shuttle quickly flew beside the colony and quickly dropped off the commander and her squad. The three of them moved down the grass lane. "We're groundside. Mordin, you sure these armour upgrades will protect us from the seeker swarms?" Shepard asked.

"Certainty impossible. But in limited numbers, should confuse detection, make us invisible to swarms. In theory."

"That doesn't sound good" Garrus replied.

"Experimental technology" Mordin said. "Only test is contact with seeker swarms. Look forward to seeing if you survive."

By the time their conversation was over, Shepard and her squad were already at the end of the path. "Garrus" Laura whispered as she saw a group of Collectors in the courtyard, "Start us off." Vakarian nodded, looked down the scope of the sniper and fired off a shot, hitting one Collecor in the back of the head. They all turned around, buzzed and got to cover. Miranda crouched behind a cluster of crates and fired at the foes, whilst Garrus picked them off from a distance. Laura launched a shockwave into the group and then threw them into a singularity. To finish them off, Garrus picked a few off whilst the commander teleported into them, slamming them about.

The three of them moved along the grassy path. "Comman...-tting all kinds...-ference. We can't maintai..."

"That ship is blocking communications" Miranda exclaimed.

"We're on our own now" Shepard replied. Another clicky roar sounded the beginning of another fight. Laura ran up the stairs and got behind a tall column. All of a sudden, two husks grabbed onto the commander. In response, Shepard struggled for a moment before knocking one husk away and uppercutting the other. It stumbled backward, and the second husk came at the commander from the side. As soon as Laura pushed it away with her biotics, the fallen husk quickly clambered up and ran towards her. Shepard unsheathed her knife, jabbed it between the husk's ribs and rolled her eyes as the other rushed towards her. Laura leaned backwards, letting it fall over the knife before she headbutted it, sending both of them toppling to the ground. Laura removed her knife before the husk fell and quickly finished them both off. By the time she had fought off the husks, the marksman and the officer had killed the rest of the Collectors.

Shepard and her squad moved through the open battlefield until the got under a canopy, where they found the body of another husk. "This thing used to be human, didn't it?" Lawson began. "Is it one of the colonists?"

"No. On Eden Prime, victims were impaled on giant spikes to turn them into husks. I haven't seen any on Horizon" Laura replied.

"So the Collectors already had the husks" Vakarian replied. "They must want them for something else."

"I won't let the Collectors get away with anyone else. Let's move out."

The three of them ran into a second courtyard. There was a Collector up one of the staircases, but he hadn't seen the squad coming. Garrus lined up his sights and took the shot, killing the Collector grunt instantly. The rest of them turned to look at where the shot had come from. The officer shot at the humanoid bugs up by the end of the courtyard and Shepard dealt with the ones closer. Laura slammed one Collector down and threw balls of biotic energy at the other two. They buzzed and fired at the commander, hitting her in the shoulder. She stumbled backward and fell over; she managed to keep herself up with her arms. "Commander!" Miranda exclaimed, grabbing her commander and pulling her up to her feet. "I'm fine!" Shepard insisted, quickly getting back to work finishing off the group of Collectors.

Laura and her team moved past a set of stairs and down into yet another courtyard. Suddenly, the Collector assumed control of a regular ground soldier and began firing at the commander. In response, Shepard crouched behind a crate and fired off several biotics at the Collector. The general shot at Laura's cover until she teleported towards him and slammed down. He stumbled backwards, and Shepard finished him off. The corpse fizzled out of existence, and Garrus picked off the rest of the troopers.

The three of them ran through a small house, saw a large door and jogged over to it. The door was locked, so Shepard ordered Vakarian to hack it. Once he had done so, Laura walked into the room, followed by her squad. Someone was in the room with them, and Shepard could sense it. "I know you're here" she said confidently. Finally, a colonist stepped out from behind a large crate. "You're... you're human?! What are you doing here? You'll lead them right to us!"

"Relax. They're dead. I killed the Collectors."

"Collectors? You mean those things are real? I thought they were just made up. You know, propaganda. To keep us in Alliance space. No! They got Lilith. I saw her go down. Sten, too. They got damn near everybody!"

"What's your name? What do you do here?" Shepard asked.

"Name's Delan. Mechanic. I came down to check on the main grid after we lost our comm signals. Then I heard screaming. I looked outside, and there were swarms of bugs. Everyone they touched just froze. I sealed the doors. Dammit – it's the Alliance's fault. They stationed that chief Williams here and built those defence towers. It made us a target!"

"If you have defences, we could use them against the Collector ship!"

"You'd need to calibrate the targeting systems first. It's never worked right."

"Just give us the location" Miranda insisted.

"The targeting controls are at the base of the main transmitter, just on the other side of this door. I'll let you out, but I'm locking the door behind you. I'm not taking any chances. Good luck, you're going to need it."

The door opened, revealing the controls for the turret. Shepard and her squad sprinted over to them and quickly hacked it. "Normandy, do you copy?" Laura asked.

"Joker here. Signal's weak, Commander, but we got you."

"EDI – can you get the colony's defence towers online?"

"Errors in the calibration software are easily rectified, but it will take time to get the towers to full power. I recommend a defensive posture. I will not be able to mask the increased generator output."

"Hold them off, got it. Thanks EDI" Laura said.

The three of them got behind a chest high wall above a raised platform. Garrus picked the Collectors off once they got to the tower, and Shepard did the same with her biotics. Vakarian and Lawson agreed to fire at the main foe whilst Laura fought the husks. Several of the blue hued creatures ran up the stairs. The commander briskly jogged to them to hold them off.

Shepard ducked under one of the husks swings and hooked him in the gut. He staggered backwards, toppling into the other creatures swings. Another passed the body and ran towards the human. Laura tripped him up and punched another husk who swung for her. The husk to suffer the commander's first punch clambered back up and swung his head forward. The human grabbed it with both hands and slammed her knee into his head. He screamed out in pain and collapsed. Yet another creature took a swing for her, but Shepard quickly dodged to the side and swiped the husk in the shoulder. Laura's biotics began to flare; she raised her foot and kicked the group of husks. Two swung for her at the same time, so she ducked under the punches and kicked the husk to the right in the leg, immobilizing him. The one the left grabbed onto the human, and soon enough so did the surviving group. Shepard roared and burst through the group with a biotic explosion. Most of the creatures died, but two survived. Laura unsheathed her blade, slashed one and ducked under the other's punch and cut him in the leg. The husk staggered backward and fell over the railing.

Suddenly, a loud buzz was followed by a huge buggy monster dropping onto the battlefield. It's mouth widened, and it growled. Garrus fired the first shot at it, Miranda ploughed into it with a clip of rifle ammo and Laura flared her biotics and ensnared the beast in a trap. Whilst it was still, the three of them pounded into it with everything they had. Once it was finally free, it was already about to die. Shepard quickly threw a shockwave at it, which knocked it aside, killing it.

"I am maintaining fire on the Collector vessel" EDI spoke through the comm. "Please protect the tower from ground forces." Enough fire from the turrets forced the Collector ship to fly away. "NO!" the mechanic screamed. "Don't let 'em get away!"

"That ship is huge" Laura replied. "Exactly how are we supposed to catch it?"

"Half the colony's in there! They took Egan and Sam... and Lilith. Do something!"

"I'm sorry."

"Sorry won't get them back!" Delan yelled.

"This is pointless" Miranda said from behind the commander. "Let's go, Shepard."

"Shepard?" the mechanic started. "Wait... I know that name. Sure, I remember you. You're some type of big Alliance hero."

"Commander Shepard" a familiar voice spoke softly. "Captain of the Normandy. The first human spectre. Saviour of the Citadel. You're in the presence of a god, Delan. Back from the dead."

"All the good people we lost, and you got left behind. Figures. Screw this, I'm done with you Alliance types." Delan briskly walked away.

"I thought you were dead, commander. We all did" Williams said once the mechanic had gone.

"Technically, I was. You don't sound too happy to see me. Something bothering you, Ash?"

"Yeah, something's bothering me. I spent the past two years believing you were dead. I would've followed you anywhere, commander. I thought you were gone... I... you were more than our commander. Why didn't you try to contact me?"

"Not my choice. I spent the past two years in a coma whilst Cerberus rebuilt me." Ashley stepped back, bewildered.

"You're with Cerberus now? I can't believe the reports were right. Alliance intel said Cerberus could be behind the missing colonies. We got a tip that we could be the next one to be hit. There were rumours that you weren't dead. Worse; that you were working with the enemy."

"Cerberus and I want the same thing – to save our colonies. That doesn't mean I answer to them."

"Do you really believe that? Or is that what Cerberus wants you to think? Doesn't matter... I still know where my loyalties lie. I'm an Alliance soldier. It's in my blood. I'm reporting back to the Citadel. I wonder if they'll believe your story."

"You could join me, Ash. It'd be just like old times."

"No, it won't. I'm no fan of aliens, but Cerberus are extremist. I'll never work with a group like that. Look, if you want my advice; don't trust them." With that, the soldier was gone. Shepard stood there, a bad feeling rising in her gut. "Joker – get the shuttle to pick us up. I've had enough of this colony."

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _1530 hours__

 _ _CIC Deck, SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor__

After a brief chat, The Illusive Man said he had forwarded more dossiers to Shepard, and Miranda had said that the rest of the crew would be getting some closure. But right now, Laura was dealing with her own issues.

Traynor had always been Shepard's friend ever since she moved onto the Normandy, and she was always willing to listen to Laura. She walked up to the specialist and smiled. "I saw the reports on Horizon, commander. What you did was amazing. The report mentioned that Ashley Williams was there. How did it go?"

"It was good to see her" Laura responded.

"Do you have strong feelings for her?"

"We had a job to do and we did it."

"I understand. Shepard, if you have some free time, I'd like to have dinner with you."

"Why?"

"Just to chat."

"Okay then. Is seven o'clock OK?"

"Sure" Samantha replied happily. She didn't think that she'd actually accept her request, but she was happy she did. "See you there."

 _ _May 18th, 2185__

 _ _1900 hours__

 _ _Shepard's Cabin, SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor__

A few hours passed, and the Normandy was a lot quieter. Many people were either dealing with their own issues or sleeping. Shepard had picked out the first dress she could find – a long black one – hopped in the shower and then put the dress on. Traynor wasn't too late, only a few minutes, which Laura always expects.

"Hey, you're here" the commander said as Samantha came through the door. "I wasn't too late, was I?" Traynor replied worryingly, standing still by the doorway.

"No, no. Come in, sit down." With that, the specialist strutted down the steps and over to the small table to the side of the room, where she sat down, patted down her dress and smiled. "What have you got lined up?" Samantha asked.

"Well, I thought I'd skip the starter because they're usually tastless. I have an asari delicacy that Chef told me about named Alani for the starter – a small steak seasoned with herbs and marinated with eezo for the main. For desert, I have strawberry ice cream with sprinkles."

"Sounds like a meal. Shall we?" said Traynor joyfully, unable to keep a smile from forming.

"We shall."

Laura brought out the first meal, placed it on the table and sat down. The two of them dug into their food. "So" Samantha began, swallowing a mouthful of the meal. "You said earlier that it was good to see Ashley, but that didn't answer my question. How was it? I mean, really?" Shepard sighed, cut another chunk of food and impaled it with a fork. "To be honest" Laura began, slipping the slice of meat between her lips, "terribly." The commander began chewing. Traynor cut some of her food, dragged it through the eezo and put it in her mouth. "What went wrong?" she asked, swallowing the food and finishing off her meal. Laura picked off bits of herb with her fork and ate the remains of the meal. "Come on, commander" the specialist began, "we're friends, you can tell me."

"She hated the fact that I was working with Cerberus. She did make a lot of sense, but we just didn't agree on certain things." The commander put down her fork and stretched.

Traynor pushed her plate away and smiled. "That was lovely. I think I might have just enough space left in my gut for desert."

"Well, all right then. I'll put these in the sink and get the ice cream." Shepard got up, collected the plates and brought them to the sink, where she put them in, quickly cleaned them and got the desert from the fridge. They were already on plates, so the commander didn't need to worry about that. Laura brought desert to Traynor, put one plate in front of her and one in front of herself. Shepard sat down and dug in. Samantha ate a spoon full of ice cream and gazed at her commander's cabin. "Your cabin is huge, Shepard. I've seen apartments smaller than this."

"I know. As much as I hate Cerberus, they sure do a good job on things" Laura replied, scooping up a large spoon of ice cream and putting it in her mouth. "For instance, you" the specialist said cheekily. Shepard put down her cutlery and smirked. "Samantha Traynor, did I just hear a flirtatious remark come out of your mouth?"

"What?" Traynor exclaimed nervously. "No! Of couse no...-why-"

"Relax, Samantha" Laura spoke smoothly. "I was only joking."

"O-of course, commander. I knew that."

"Sure."

Once they had finished their ice cream, Shepard brought the plates to sink, briskly scrubbed them and then walked back down. Throughout some of the night, Samantha and Laura danced to songs on the radio. They were having fun, and it got them energetic. "Tonight's been great, hasn't it, Laura?" the specialist asked as she stopped dancing and turned the radio off. "It definitely has" Shepard replied. "I'm really glad you came along."

"Thanks" Traynor replied. The tension between the two of them grew too much, and one of them had to do something; the commander breathed and kissed Traynor. She took the specialist's bottom lip between her teeth and wrapped her hands around her back, but Samantha pushed away. "Not tonight. Soon, though. Night night." Traynor smiled, kissed the commander on the cheek and walked away. She stopped at the doorway, briefly winked and then left.


	8. Recruitment - Samara

_May 19th, 2185_

 _0900 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard_

Finally! A good night sleep! Laura hadn't gotten one in months. Once she woke up, she took a quick shower, threw on the first clothes that matched and headed down to see Traynor.

The door from the elevator to the CIC deck screeched open, and Shepard happily stepped at and scared Samantha from behind. The specialist jumped in shock and turned around. "Oh! God, it's you, Shepard. I just have to say; I really loved last night" Traynor spoke, softly, "and I also remember fondly what happened at the end of the night" she continued, smirking wolfishly. Laura chuckled and replied; "I do to. Did you like it?"

"How many seconds did it happen for?"

"A few."

"Then that answers your question."

O0o

The commander was in such a great mood that she told Joker to fly to Illium quickly. The pilot did.

 _May 19th, 2185_

 _0930 hours_

 _Illium_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian_

The Normandy docked at Illium. Laura, Miranda and Garrus all walked into the bay, where they were met by an asari guarded by two mechs. "Welcome to Nos Astra, commander Shepard. We've been instructed to waive all docking and administration fees for your visit. My name is Careena. If you need information about the area, it would be my pleasure to assist you."

"Who instructed you to waive the fees?" the commander asked suspiciously.

"The order came from Liara T'Soni, who paid all fees on your behalf. She also asked that I direct you to speak with her at your convenience. She's near the trading floor."

 **Liara T'Soni.** A woman Shepard had thought so highly of and had even committed a relationship to. But that love was gone, and Laura hated having to tell her that. A pain rose from her gut, so the commander made her excuses and headed up to Liara's office.

Shepard took a deep breath and walked through the door. "Have you faced an asari commando unit?" Liara asked a man through a holographic display. "Few people have. I'll make it simple. Either you pay me, or I flay you alive. With my mind." Liara wasn't the person Laura knew; she was making threats, deadly ones. The commander didn't like that. The asari noticed Shepard and gasped. "Shepard! Nyxeris, hold my calls." Liara came closer to Shepard and tried to kiss her, but Laura backed away. The asari frowned and sat down. "My sources said you were alive, but I never believed... it's very good to see you. I... um..."

"Liara" Laura began, barely choking the words from her throat. "There's something I need to say. Our relationship... it's been too long."

"W-what are you saying?" the researcher questioned.

"Liara" the commander said, leaning over the table and hold the asari's cold blue hands. "It's been two years, and, to be honest, I don't have the same feelings for you as I did on the original Normandy." Liara sighed slowly and then looked up.

"It's... understandable. If I am honest, I almost feel the same. It has been too long, but that doesn't mean we can't still be friends."

"Of course we can. By the way, you have sources now?" Laura asked, briskly changing the subject to prevent it from becoming awkward. "A few" the azure asari replied, "sources, contacts, even a little hired muscle. I've been working as an information broker. It's paid the bills since you... well, for the past two years. And now you're back, gunning for the collectors with Cerberus."

"If you know that, then you'll know I need your help. It'll be just like old times."

"I can't, Shepard. I'm sorry. I have commitments here. Things I need to take care of."

"I understand. Say, there's an asari named Samara here on Illium. Do you know where I could find her?"

"Yes. She arrived recently and registered with Tracking Officer Dara."

"Why would Samara have to register with a tracking officer? Is she a criminal?"

"No. In fact, she's quite the opposite. Samara is a justicar, one of an ancient sect of asari warriors. Dara can tell you more."

"There's also a drell named Thane Krios. He's meant to be on Illium."

"The assassin. Yes, he arrived here a few days ago. My sources tell me he may be targeting a corporate executive, Nassana Dantius. He contacted a woman named Seryna. Seryna has an office in the cargo transfer levels. Perhaps she can tell you where Krios is."

"And I also need to know where a pirate named Kaeli, but her nickname is Raven."

"Kaeli... ah, yes. She entered the docks in a police car a couple of days ago. Her ship was boarded and her crew were taken away. Ask the officers down by the docking bay about her."

"Thank you, Liara. That's all I needed to know."

"Of course. If there is anything else I could help you with, let me know." Shepard smiled, excused herself and her and her crew came out of the asari's office.

 _First stop, Samara._

The commander, Vakarian and Lawson went to the docks, where they eventually found officer Dara. "You looking for Samara?" she asked. Laura gently nodded. "Okay then. She's still at the commercial spaceport. You can hail a cab." Shepard did just that; she walked away and hailed a cab to take her to Samara.

 _May 19th, 2185_

 _1000 hours_

 _Illium_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

A volus slowly walked away, but a velvet skinned asari stopped him. "Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm taking my goods to Omega, detective."

"You're not going anywhere, merchant. Not until I solve this murder."

"I had nothing to do with that! It was those mercenary thugs you can't seem to get rid of."

"The victim was your business partner, and I'm not ruling you out. I'll let you know when you can leave."

"What about that justicar that just showed up?" the volus retorted. "Everyone says she might go crazy and start killing! I need to leave."

"She'll only kill the unjust – so I'm sure you'll have nothing to worry about, Pitne For. Find me in the station if you need me." Detective Anaya walked away into her station.

Shepard clambered out of her cab, followed by Garrus and Miranda. Laura strolled over to the volus and smiled. "What do you want?" Pitne asked irritably. "I've already got mercs wanting to kill me like they did my partner! I don't need any more trouble. As if that weren't enough, some asari justicar showed up this morning. All the natives are scare of her. I've got to get off this world."

"Tell me how to find this justicar" the commander replied.

"She's in the alley where my business partner was murdered. A detective sealed the area, so you'll have to talk with her if you want to get in there."

"Why do you think it was mercenaries?" Laura asked.

"Dakni Kur was cutting through a back alley last night when someone killed him with a shotgun. I saw his body this morning – they'd used modded rounds. That means Eclipse mercs."

"You must know something about these Eclipse?" Garrus chimed in.

"I occasionally do business with them, but only in well lit places with my guards. And only after the creds clear. This is a scummy bunch, even by merc standards. They sell red sand, all kinds of illegal items, and they are all cold blooded killers."

"I should go."

Laura and her squad walked into the office and met with Anaya. "Nice guns" the detective said as Shepard walked into her vision. "Try not to use them in my district. What can I do for you?"

"I'm looking for an asari warrior named Samara" Laura replied, sitting down in the seat opposite the purple hued asari. Anaya sighed; "If you've got a score to settle with Samara – take it someplace else. I have more than enough trouble here already."

"I need to recruit Samara for my mission and then I'll be on my way."

"Justicars usually work alone, but they are drawn to impossible causes."

"We've got that covered" Miranda uttered.

"If you're getting her out of my district" the detective continued, "I'll get you to her ASAP. She's at the crime scene."

"You're awfully persistent on getting Samara out of this district" the commander said suspiciously.

"My bosses want me to detain her. They're worried she'll cause some kind of cross species incident. But her justicar code won't let her be taken into custody. If I try it, she'll have to kill me. I have no interest in dying, so if you lure her away with some kind of big noble cause before I have to carry out my orders, I'm thrilled to help you."

"How do I get to the crime scene?" Shepard asked.

"It's around the corner – go outside, take a left. Look for a police line. I'll send word to let you in. Be careful – the local Eclipse mercs have been all over those back alleys lately."

"I have to go."

Shepard and her team followed the path given; **go outside, take a left, look for a police line.** The commander passed through the police line and the guards at the door stepped out of her way. The corridor which followed led along and down to another door. The officer and the marksman readied their weapons for an ambush. Laura crept down the length of the corridor, sticking to the shadows. Once she got far enough in, Shepard heard an Eclipse vanguard yelling about getting a team prepared. The human tip-toed up the steps to her left and crouched against a box. She subtly leaned her head out and saw a group of mercenaries checking their weapons. On the count of three, Garrus lobbed a grenade into the group. The band of mercs panicked and got behind the only cover they could find. They began firing back at Shepard and her team and, in response, the commander sent a shock wave into the cluster of Eclipse, killing all of them except for the vanguard. Laura cloaked herself and snuck up behind the asari mercenary, who was laying prone behind a pillar. The panicked Eclipse merc turned around once she heard a noise; the commander stepped on the asari's leg, unsheathed her blade and shanked the merc in the face.

The three of them followed the path down until the reached another door. As soon as Shepard opened it, she heard a cry of fear, followed by an asari flying through the air and smashing against the wall. "Those were my best troops..." an Eclipse vanguard muttered to a mysterious justicar. Samara stepped out of the shadows, biotics flared, and spoke in a low cold tone; "Tell me what I need to know, and I will be gone from here. Where did you send her?" the justicar asked, circling the vanguard. "You think I'd betray her?" the merc replied nervously. "She would hurt me in ways you couldn't imagine."

"The name of the ship" Samara said sternly. "Your life hangs on the answer, Lieutenant."

"You can kill me" the Eclipse mercenary said, holding her gun and keeping it aimed at Samara. "but one of us will take you down, justicar." In that moment, the justicar lifted the vanguard up with her biotics and threw her through a window. Samara jumped through the broken glass, landed softly on the ground and snapped the merc's neck. The justicar stared up at the commander and her squad. "My name is Samara" the azure asari said, "a servant of the justicar code. My quarrel is with these eclipse sisters, but I see three well armed people before me. Are you friend or foe?"

"That merc was wounded and defenceless. Do you just kill anyone who won't help you?"

"If my code is important enough, yes. Are you different?"

"I've killed" Shepard responded briskly, "but with good reason."

"I answer to a code that is clearly defined" Samara said coldly. "If my actions are true to that code, I am just. If they are not, I am unjust. I don't pretend it is a simple matter, or that it seems right to everyone. But I sleep well at night, and that is more than most can say. How may I be of service to you?"

"I need you to help me take down the Collectors" Laura spoke smoothly. The justicar smirked weakly and said her words with confidence; "The Collectors are a worthy foe; I would relish myself against them. But I seek an incredibly dangerous fugitive." Samara's expression suddenly froze; she ambled about the room. "I cornered her here, but the Eclipse sisters smuggled her off-world. I must find the name of the ship she left on before the trail goes cold."

"I wish you were willing to go with the human, Justicar." detective Anaya interrupted, walking through the door to the room. "I've been ordered to take you into custody if you won't leave."

"You risk a great deal by following your orders" the justicar replied, strutting closer to Anaya. "Fortunately, I will not have to resist. My code obligates me to cooperate with you for one day. After that, I must return to my investigation."

"I won't be able to release you that soon" the detective said sternly.

"You won't be able to stop me."

With that, Shepard stepped into the situation and made a compromise. "There must be some way we can all get what we want." Samara smiled warmly and spoke in a soft tone; "I see a way. While I am in custody, you find the name of that ship. Do that, and I will join you. The code will be satisfied."

"Consider it done" Laura replied happily. "Do you have any leads?"

"The volus merchant, Pitne For, is tied to this. Eclipse mercs are preparing to kill him. Get the truth out of him. He may know a way into the eclipse base." The justicar walked to the doorway, Anaya gripped her arm lightly. "Well, I've got to get back to my station. And I guess I've got to take you with me."

"Thank you Shepard" Samara said calmly.

The commander, the officer and the marksman all made their way back out into the docks, where they eventually found Pitne For. "Hello again, Earth clan" the volus said, turning to face Shepard. "Your words came out of you ass. You have one more chance to change your statement."

"What do you mean, Earth clan? I -" Laura crouched down, grabbed Pitne by the shoulders and got as close to him as she could. "If you do not start talking, I will make you put your legs together so hard, you will castrate yourself."

"O-okay. Oh dear. I'll be cooperative, I swear!"

"Good" the commander said, pushing the volus away. "Tell me everything." Pitne took a deep breath and turned away. "I smuggled a chemical onto Illium that boosts biotic powers in combat. It also is toxic" he continued, turning back around to face the commander. "I may have, um, forgotten to mention that to the Eclipse. So they are perturbed and want to kill me."  
"You brought this on yourself" the commander replied angrily.

"True and true. But I haven't survived as a merchant this long without being able to tell when there's a deal in the making – you want something." Laura sighed and spoke up; "The Eclipse recently smuggled someone off-world. I need the name of the ship she left on."

"I don't know about their people-smuggling operations." the volus breathed. "They must keep records in their base. I do have a pass card they issued me to bring my goods in. Well, I had to return that one, but I happened to make a copy." Shepard raised a brow, making it clear what she was going to say. Pitne handed her the pass card. "Take it" he instructed, "but be careful – each Eclipse sister commits a murder to earn her uniform. They are all dangerous."

 _May 19th, 2185_

 _1130 hours_

 _Eclipse Base, Illium_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson_

Laura and her squad made their way over to the elevator, where the commander swiped the passcard and brought her team into it. They zoomed up and, as the door opened, they were greeted by a mech. It stretched out from it's ball, but Miranda quickly dispatched it with a quick shot to the chest.

The three of them moved to the next door, where an asari flung a box of red sand towards them. Shepard and her squad could feel their powers getting stronger, so Laura fired a shockwave towards the group of mercs. A bit of the shockwave smashed against a brick column, sending it crashing to the ground, in turn collapsing the roof on the Eclipse sisters. "That got rid of them" the commander said, "let's get away from the red sand. I can feel my head aching already."

Shepard and her team rushed through the next doorway, where the commander overheard whispers. "Oh, Goddess! Oh, Goddess, don't let them see me. If they see me, don't let them kill me. What am I doing here?" Laura opened the door to where the noise was coming from; the room was dark, but light enough to see. Shepard flared her biotics as her team readied their weapons. "Wait, stop!" a voice exclaimed. An asari popped out from behind a wall and put her hand out. "I didn't fire my weapon once! I pretended to because the other Eclipse sisters were watching, but I didn't really shoot. I'm not one of them! I'm new! I thought being Elnora the mercenary would be cool... but I didn't know what they were really like."

"You chose your side, Elnora. And you lost." The asari pulled out her gun and pointed it at the squad. "Screw that, bitch. And screw you!" She fired a shot, which barely damaged the commander's barriers. Garrus, Miranda and Shepard all killed Elnora before it was too late. Her lifeless body collapsed on the ground.

The three of them walked out of the room and moved down the corridor until the reached another band of mercenaries. The Eclipse started firing at the squad, so Miranda got behind cover and fired back whilst Garrus lobbed a proximity mine into the group. Laura peeked out of cover, teleported into the pack and slammed down, knocking them all away. Shepard and her squad ran through the hall they were in until the got to a courtyard over looking Illium. A cluster of mechs burst from the entrance on the other side of the room. They shot at the squad. Miranda got behind cover, Garrus crouched beside her and Laura fired a cryo blast into the group. They froze in place and shattered as Garrus shot into the group. The commander, the officer and the marksman made their way across the courtyard, through the corridor at the end and all the way to the elevator, where they pinged up to a large room.

The captain sipped from her glass of red wine and read over the reports again. She put it down and smirked. "Everything's gone to hell since we smuggled that filth off-world. First the justicar, now you." She threw her data pad down as well. "At least I can take pleasure in making your head into a pulpy mush!" The asari lobbed a tank of red sand at the commander and her squad, but they ducked. "I'll handle this!" Shepard insisted. Laura teleported to the captain and swung her fist at her head, narrowly missing. Wasea ducked under, grabbed the commander's wrist and threw her onto the floor. The asari raised her clenched palm and slammed it down, giving the human just enough time to roll away from the punch and tackle the captain. Suddenly, Laura was blown back by Wasea's biotics, but not for long. She quickly clambered up and took the moment to duck under the incoming swipe, and, in retaliation, land a thudding blow to the asari's head. Wasea stumbled backwards, in which time Laura dealt several kicks and hits before she got back on her feet. The captain swung a lazy right hook at the human, which Shepard swiftly evaded, gripped her arm and smashed it with her knee, breaking the bone. Laura pulled the asari's arm behind her body and kicked her to the floor. Wasea attempted frantically to crawl away, but the commander briskly unsheathed her knife, clamped down the captain's foot and sink the blade into her throat.

Shepard gathered her squad and brought them to the desk, where the commander read the note:

 **There's a justicar here! Probably looking for the one we sent off on the AML Demeter. I was happy to see her go; she chilled me to the bone. I just hope this justicar doesn't mess up my operation.**

Laura quickly copied the memo. "That must be the ship Samara was looking for" Miranda said.

"You wanna head back to the police station and give her the name? Or look around first?" Vakarian asked. The commander told them to follow her back to the station.

"I've got the name of the ship" Shepard said as she entered the station. "Your fugitive left here two days ago on the AML Demeter."

"Shepard, you impress me" Samara replied happily. "You fulfilled your part of the bargain, and I will fulfil mine." The justicar quickly hopped down from the platform she was sitting cross legged on. "I am ready to leave immediately, if that will satisfy your superiors, detective?" the asari spoke to Anaya.

"You're free to go, justicar. It has been an honour having you in my station. And it's nice you didn't kill me, too."

"The Normandy is docked near the main trading floor" Laura spoke. "I'll meet you aboard."

"I must be sworn to your service, so that I am never forced to choose between your orders and the code." Samara's eyes flickered; she bowed down in front of the commander. "By the code, I will serve you, Shepard. Your choices are my choices, your morals are my morals. Your wishes are my new code." The biotics around the justicar flared; when she was done, she stood up. "If you make me do anything extremely dishonourable, I may need to kill you when I am released from my oath."

"I see that this is a very important act, Samara. Thank you."

 _Next up, Thane Krios._


	9. Recruitment - Thane

__May 19th, 2185__

 _ _1200 hours__

 _ _Main Level Docks, Illium__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson__

Shepard arrived at the main level docks. She remembered about the asari there who could take her to Thane. The commander and her squad walked over to an asari who seemed to just be looking around. As soon as Laura got closer, the woman smiled. "Ready to hunt your assassin?" she asked.

"I am. Let's go" Shepard replied, her smirk growing.

"Good. I'm tired of this crap. We'll go tonight, as soon as the shift workers clear out of tower two."

 _ _May 19th, 2185__

 _ _1900 hours__

 _ _Tower Two, Illium__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson__

The groups car zoomed through the traffic. "The towers are heavily guarded" Seryna – the woman at the docks – began, "and you'll find more resistance closer to the penthouse. So, this assassin. Are you planning to stop him?" the asari asked.

"I'm just here to make sure he survives."

Their car flew by other rows of cars until they came up to the towers. "There they are" said Seryna. "The dantius towers. You'll have to get up to the second tower and cross the bridge to the penthouse. Her mercs will fight you every step, but it's your best chance."

"Why don't we just save time and take the shuttle up?" the commander asked.

"She's got mercs with rockets just waiting for you to try. You'd get maybe half way up before they shot you down. Besides, your assassin won't go in that way. Best to go in low."

"All right. Let's do this."

Laura took a deep breath as their car hurried to the towers. Their vehicle landed at the towers. Shepard and her squad stepped out. "Don't linger too long; they'll be here to greet you soon enough. Good luck, Shepard." The commander shut the door to the car and watched it zoom off. Garrus turned around and saw someone behind the huge glass pain; it seemed like they were quivering. Suddenly, they were forced out of their cover by mechs, who began firing at them from a distance. The two fleeing salarian's collapsed to the ground as they were shot from behind. As the bots turned a corner, they noticed Laura and her squad. Two pet mechs ran around the corner and bounded towards the three of them.

Shepard, Vakarian and Lawson all crouched behind the best cover the could find. One pet ran up to the commander and buzzed, indicating he was about to explode. Laura flared her biotics and kicked the mech as far as she could. It blew up and knocked the two main bots off of their feet. The other mech pet raced up to the marksman. Miranda shot at it from the side and smiled at the turian. Shepard focused her energy, picked up one of the fallen bots with her biotics and slammed it into the other one.

The three of them headed down the hallway, turned right and saw a wheezing Salarian down on the floor. "Help" he struggled to breathe.

"You're still alive?" the commander asked, crouching down beside the injured worker.

"I can't feel my legs. My chest is killing me."

"Who attacked you?" Laura asked.

"We're just night workers! Nassana... sent them after us. She sent the mechs to round us up, but we didn't hear. They just started shooting."

"They just started shooting?"

"Yes. The mercs said there was no time... Nassana wanted us out of the way immediately. Then... the dogs... I can't breathe... please... he-" Before the salarian could even finish the sentence, Shepard aided him with a small dose of medi-gel. "Here. That should ease the pain and keep you alive until help comes." The worker slowly got to his feet and heaved. "I think I'm... better. Find the other workers. Help them."

"I'll do what I can." Laura nodded to Miranda, who tapped the door and opened it. "Thank you."

Shepard, Lawson and Vakarian wandered along the path until they reached another group of mercenaries. One of the mechanical dogs sprinted towards the three of them; it latched onto the commander's leg, but she quickly flung it out of the window. Garrus crouched behind a crate and distracted the band of mercs with a shot which pelted one of the men in the back. Laura threw a ball of biotic energy into the cluster of mercenaries, injuring all of them. Shepard and her squad quickly finished them off and kept walking, where they were met by another group of mercs. They fired at the squad, forcing them to retreat slightly and find the nearest cover they could. Laura peeked out from behind the weapons cache she had stationed herself behind and pulled in one of the guards. As he came closer, the commander slammed him to the floor, snapped his neck, grabbed his gun and began firing into the band of mercs. Whilst they were distracted by gunfire, Miranda tip-toed around the back and sneakily overloaded the big mech's systems. The officer got back to the fight, lining her shots with her rifle and killing a couple of men. Laura dropped her gun, teleported over to the rest of the mercs and slammed down, killing anyone nearby. The few remaining bodyguards jogged to their mech for cover. They tried to activate it, but it didn't work; Shepard powered up and fired a ball of condensed biotics at the last couple of mercenaries.

Laura and her team moved down the room, through a door and up a long set of stairs. As they came into the next room, they heard voices: "I think he went in here" a male voice spoke.

"Well, go get him" a female replied.

"You go."

"Get your ass in there. Nassana's not paying you to stand around.

"Fine... but I..." the male voice was suddenly cut short by a barrage of gunfire, which ended in two bodies being thrown down the air vent. Shepard and her squad passed the corpses, but were quickly stopped by another group of mechs. The commander ordered Garrus to get into cover, and Miranda got into her own by herself. The bots took random shots at the group and, in response, Shepard launched them into a singularity. The singularity bubble burst, flinging the mechs aside. Garrus and Miranda quickly finished them off and followed their commander down the room, where at the end of the corridor they were met with more resistance. Laura burst a shockwave down the hall, which forced the mercs out of cover. Whilst they were unprotected, Miranda picked a few of them off. The remaining mercs cowered and fired barrages of bullets at Shepard and her squad. With her biotics, the commander took hold of the incoming bullets, turned them around and threw them back at the mercenaries, killing the majority of them. Shepard walked up to a wounded merc crawling on the floor. She stepped on the back of his head and stomped down.

The three of them moved into the next room. A merc spotted the group and alerted the others. "Miranda, there. Garrus, there!" ordered the commander. Miranda crouched behind a small crate whilst Garrus stood beside a wall. Shepard teleported into the group of mercs, slammed down and watched as time froze around her. She swung a left hook to the chest of one mercenary, kicked another and hit another in the head. Once time went back to normal, their corpses collapsed. When Laura was done, she noticed an elevator. "Look. Maybe that's our way up." Shepard walked over the elevator door and tapped it; it was moving. Someone was inside.

"What are the odds that the elevator is going to be empty when it gets here?" Miranda asked.

"Slim to none. Let's get ready for them. Miranda and Garrus, you take point beside the door. I sit behind the construction blocks." Laura hopped over the sheet metal piled together and crouched behind it. "Mezzani. Have a pleasant stay." With that, the door to the elevator pinged open. A krogan alongside two body guards stepped out. "Miranda, Garrus, take the bodyguards!" The commander leapt back over cover and swung a punch at the krogan. He roared as the fist made contact with his bare skin. He threw his gun away and charged at Laura. She strafed to the side, put out a foot and made the alien stumble. He turned around. His fist met Laura's face. The commander was thrown to the floor. The krogan raised his fists, but just before he slammed down, Shepard teleported behind him. She jumped and latched onto his back. The commander briskly unsheathed her knife and dug it into the alien. He screamed out, turned around and swung the human off of him. Where Shepard landed, the corpse of one of the bodyguards collapsed beside her. She grabbed the gun, aimed it at the krogan and began firing. After enough shots, the alien toppled over, dead. Once the three of them were sure the elevator was free, Shepard, Lawson and Vakarian all huddled into it. The commander pressed the button to send them up.

When the elevator reached its destination, Shepard heard a merc talking about Thane. Laura, Miranda and Garrus sneaked up behind the mercenary. "Turn around" the commander ordered. "Very slowly." The Eclipse merc turned around.

"Damn it."

"Have you seen the assassin?"

"Why are you looking for him? You don't look like one of Nassana's men. Who are you?"

"I'll ask you again. Have you seen the assassin?" Shepard asked, backing the merc against a wall.

"I've got nothing more to say to you. If you shoot me, my team's right through there – they'll be all over you." Laura had had enough; she grabbed the mercenary's abdomen, powered her biotics and shot him out of the window. "How 'bout goodbye?"

The commander and her squad walked into the next room. Luckily, they hadn't been seen yet. Shepard beckoned her team to move into cover whilst she did the same. She heard a merc talking to Nassana over the radio. Suddenly, she shouted at the mercenaries and cut off the comms. Laura peeked over cover and used her biotics to hack into the two mechs closest to her. They stood up, turned to the mercs and began shooting. Whilst they were distracted, Shepard got into a good position, powered herself up and then began firing bolts of biotics from her hands like a turret. She quickly decimated any remaining forces, including the mechs. Once it had quietened down, Laura heard Nassan through the comms again. "Where is everyone?" Laura walked up to a small terminal and answered. "It's about time! What's going on down there?" Nassana asked.

"I'm afraid your men aren't able to respond, Nassana" Shepard replied.

"Damn it!"

The commander and her team continued moving through the site until a group of bots stopped them. Laura quickly dispatched them with ease and kept moving. The three of them ran down the hall and out onto the small sheet metal platform. More mercs fired at them as they came out. Miranda shot back, and Garrus threw a proximity mine, which promptly exploded as three mercenaries walked over it. Laura teleported to the remaining forces and slammed down, clearing them out. The three of them sprinted down the path until they got to the bridge. "I don't care what you do!" Nassana yelled through the comm. "No one gets across this bridge." A group of mercs tried to push the commander and her squad back, but their force was quickly diminished. As Shepard, Garrus and the officer ran along the bridge, they had to get behind cover whenever the turrets shot at them with rockets. Eventually, they got to the end and made their way up to the top. Once they were at the door, a vanguard stopped them. Shepard moved ahead, but the merc shot her shotgun. The commander dispersed into small particles to avoid the hail of bullets. Once they had passed, Laura formed back together and swung for the mercenary. She panicked and tried to smack the commander with the butt of her gun. Shepard grabbed the weapon and tossed it aside. She took out her blade and impaled the vanguard. Once she was down, the commander and her squad walked into the room.

As they came in, they saw two bodyguards, as well as Nassana facing the window. She turned and gasped. "Shepard? But... you're dead."

"I got better" Laura retorted.

"And now you're here to kill me."

"You really are paranoid, aren't you?"

"Don't patronize me, Shepard."

"Charming as ever." Laura saw a drell drop down from the ducts. The commander kept Nassana talking whilst the assassin quickly killed the guards. The asari turned around and gasped. Thane put a gun to her stomach. He pulled the trigger.

The assassin slowly laid her her to rest on the table. He put his hands together to pray. "I was wondering when you'd show up" Laura spoke. "I was hoping to talk to you."

"I apologize" Thane rasped, "but prayers for the wicked must not be forsaken."

"She certainly was wicked."

"Not for her. For me" the assassin replied. "The measure of an individual can be difficult to discern by actions alone. Take you, for instance. All this destruction, chaos. I was curious to see how far you'd go to find me. Well, here I am."

"How did you know I was coming at all?" the commander questioned.

"I didn't. Not until you marched through the front door and started shooting. Nassana had become paranoid. You saw the strength of her guard force. She believed one of her sisters would kill her. You were a valuable destruction."

"Let's cut to the chase. I need you for a mission."

"Indeed?"

"You're familiar with the Collectors?"

"By reputation."

"They're abducting entire human colonies. Freedom's Progress was their handiwork."

"I see."

"We're going after them."

"Attacking the Collectors would require passing through the Omega 4 relay. No ship has ever returned from doing so."

"They told me it was impossible to get to Ilos, too."

"A fair point. You've built a career on performing the impossible. This was to be my last job. I'm dying. Low survival odds don't concern me. The abduction of your colonists does."

"You're dying? How long do you have? Is it contagious?"

"If you're interested, we can discuss it on your ship. The problem isn't contagious, and it won't affect my work."

"I take it that means you're on the team."

"I will work for you, Shepard" Thane said, shaking the commander's hand. "No charge."

 _ _Lastly, Kaeli.__


	10. Recruitment - Kaeli

**A/N: Before this chapter begins, I have something to say. I want to thank each and every one of the people who have favourited and followed this story. It shows you like it, and I appreciate that. I don't thank you nearly enough, and this is my chance to change that. Even to the people who haven't favourited or followed this story, thank you for reading as well. I hope this journey we go on continues to entertain you. : p**

 _ _May 19th, 2185__

 _ _2100 hours__

 _ _Illium__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson__

Shepard faintly remembered what Liara had said about Kaeli.

 _Ask the police down by the docking bay about her_ . She decided to do that. Laura, Garrus and Miranda made their way to the police by the docking bay. "E-Excuse me?" Shepard began, tapping an officer on the shoulder. "Yes, ma'am?"

"I'm looking for someone named Kaeli Analu. I heard she was recently taken in?"

"That's right" the policeman replied. "Who are you?"

"I'm a friend. She might have mentioned me. I just wanted to check up on her."

"She didn't mention you."

"Ah! I thought she wouldn't have. She's very secretive about that sort of thing."

"Hmm. What about your friends?" he asked suspiciously.

"They're friends of both me and Kaeli."

"Only one person can visit at once. I'm afraid they'll have to stay behind. Follow me."

The commander left her squad at the docks and followed the officer into the station. "You never said what your name was" the policeman said.

"It's Hayley Adams." The two of them walked up to the reception desk. The officers mumbled to each other. One then walked with Shepard along to Kaeli's cell. "Oh, finally, officer. Have you come to let me out for a crime I didn't commit?" the woman asked wolfishly.

"No. I've come to tell you to get your ass over to visiting room. Move."

The officer and the commander got into the room. Laura sat down and stared at the pirate on the other side of the glass. "I'll leave you two be. We've got enough security cameras in here." Once the officer had gone, Kaeli leaned in closer to the glass and whispered. "I assume you're Shepard?"

"Did the dossier tell you?" The pirate nodded. "Then you'll also know that I need you on my team."

"That's going to be tricky, seeing as I'm in jail. But don't worry. I've devised a plan." Laura leaned in closer as well and smirked. "Tell me."

"You leave. Once you're gone, sneak around the back, climb up and through the vents, get me from my cell and then we'll either sneak or fight our way out."

"Sounds good. But how will I accommodate for my squad?"

"Squad?" the pirate asked.

"Yes. A turian and a human."

"You won't be able to; you'll have to go in alone."

"They won't like that, but it's your plan." Laura leaned back in her chair, stood up, smiled and left.

Once she got out of the station, she walked over to Garrus and Miranda. "Shepard? Where's Kaeli?" Miranda asked.

"She's in there, but I've got some news. She's come up with a plan, but it can't have you two in it." Garrus sighed and weakly smiled.

"So you're saying we're not allowed on this mission? Fine. Come on, Miranda. Let's go."

 _ _May 19th, 2185__

 _ _2130 hours__

 _ _Illium__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Kaeli Analu__

The commander sighed. She turned and tip-toed around the back of the station. She gasped and got behind the corner of a wall as she heard a guard whistling. He was holding a rifle; there was only one of him, so that wouldn't be too bad. Laura activated her cloaking, sneaked up behind the officer and choked him until he was unconscious. She dumped his body where it would be difficult to find and looked for the entrance to the duct. Eventually, she saw a vent which came out of the roof and leant over the edge. Shepard used her biotics to clamber into it. Now she had to find Kaeli's cell.

As quietly as she could, Laura crawled through the vent systems. She couldn't find the cell, though, so she got to the nearest grate and rested her ear against it. "- how long until this shift is over?" one voice spoke from within the room.

"Only about half an hour, then we can lock up and go home whilst the mechs guard."  
"Well, I think I can just about manage half an hour." The commander breathed in and smashed through the grate. Before the security camera could catch her, Shepard relayed another image onto the display. "What the -?" Laura teleported to one of the guards and swung her fist, knocking him unconscious. The other gasped as he saw Laura sprint towards him and choke him. Once they were down, the commander rummaged through everywhere she could to get a map of the building. She eventually found one by sifting through the files on the computer. Laura quickly loaded the map onto her omni-tool and slunk back into the vent.

Now she knew where to go, Shepard crawled as quickly as she could through the airways until she found the cell block on her map; she was right above it. The commander tried her best to remember which cell Kaeli was in; Cell 3! Laura shuffled around until she was above the third cell. "Kaeli!" she whispered. The pirate sat up from her bed and looked up at the roof. "There you are! Undo the grate so I can get up!" With her biotics, the commander teleported over to the other side of the vent and undid the grate. To reduce noise, Kaeli caught it as it fell, put it on the bed, grabbed Laura's hand and got pulled into the vent. "This way" Shepard whispered, shuffling around so she was facing the right way. The two of them crawled through the vents until they heard an announcement: "Vent Cleansing in 5, 4, 3, 2..." the comm said.

"Down!" Kaeli exclaimed. Laura kicked the grate near them enough so that the hinges broke. Shepard and Analu hopped into the room below, and the commander quickly covered the hole in the duct with a thick black biotic gloop.

"Well" the pirate said, brushing her mousy brown hair out of her eyes. "That was a failure. But before we escape, there's one thing I need you to help me do, Shepard."

"What's that?" the commander asked.

"I want my uniform back. It should be in the washroom. Can we quickly get it?"

"Really? You really want to risk our lives over a uniform?" Kaeli nodded and smirked wolfishly. Laura sighed. "OK then. But let's make it quick."

"Good. Follow me." The pirate opened the door to the room they were in and crouched down. Outside were two guards, both with their backs to the door. Analu quickly sneaked past them, followed by the commander. The two of them made their way down a hall, but were stopped at the end. An officer was guarding the laundry room. "Shit" Kaeli whispered. "How do we get past him?"

"I have an idea. Stay hidden; I won't be long." Laura broke down into purple particles on the floor and turned the corner. Confused, the guard walked towards the purple substance. Shepard quickly formed back into her body and snapped the officers neck. "Nice" the pirate said, standing up.

"Kaeli, you go into the washroom and get changed as quickly as possible. I'll keep an eye out." Analu nodded, passed the commander and walked into the laundry room.

After a while, Kaeli walked out of the room, wearing a red outfit with a slightly darker maroon cape running down to her hips, along with several pouches. "Now then" the pirate said, pushing her hair back and pulling up her hood, "let's go." Kaeli followed the commander. Shepard stopped at the corner of the wall and peeked around. Once she was certain it was clear, the two of them tip-toed back down the corridor. They went a different route, turning left and walked up the stairs to a higher level. A guard stood at the top of the stairs, luckily facing away. "Let me handle this" Kaeli whispered. She unsheathed a small knife from her belt buckle, got closer to the officer and slit his throat. She held his body and quietly laid it down. The commander and the pirate made their way along the catwalk until they got to what looked like a control room. "These all must power everything here" spoke Kaeli. Suddenly, she had an idea. She turned to face Laura. "Shepard, what if we turn of the lights and cameras? That will give us a period of time where we can easily escape."

"Okay. Let's just make it quick." Analu turned and looked at the console. She didn't know what button to press, so she pressed all of them. All of a sudden, the lights turned off. "Right. Let's go. Quickly!" Shepard exclaimed, grabbing the pirate's hand and running along the catwalk which hung over the reception. Kaeli broke free from Shepard's grasp and unlocked the window at the end of the catwalk. She pushed it open and clambered out, quickly followed by the commander. The two of them quietly landed on the ground and smirked. "So, commander. I guess this means I'm part of your team now, huh?" the pirate said.

"It sure does" replied Laura, "welcome aboard, Kaeli. Let me show you to the Normandy."

After showing Kaeli to her room (which was the cargo hold in Engineering), Shepard finally made her way up to her cabin. As she walked into the room, she kicked off her boots, put them beside the bed and laid down. "Ah. Home sweet home" she sighed. The peace was abruptly short lived, however, once Traynor buzzed the door. "Come in" the commander grumbled. The specialist walked through into the cabin with a warm look on her face. Laura sat up and smiled. "You're finally back, then?" Samanatha asked. The commander nodded. "That's good" the specialist continued, walking over and sitting beside Laura. "It feels like forever since you were on this ship."

"Calm down. It was less than a day."

"I know. But it feels longer. Anyway, did you have a nice time on Illium? I heard Liara T'Soni was there."

"She was. Although, it wasn't as good as I had hoped."

"Why not?" Samantha asked, confused.

"Well, I broke up with her. Mainly because it had been too long for the relationship to start back up. I also told her I was in another relationship."

"Oh. To who?" Shepard said nothing; she just smiled and stared at the specialist.

"Oh..." Samantha chuckled devilishly and leaned in to kiss the commander.


	11. Recruitment - Tali'Zorah nar Rayya

_May 20th, 2185_

 _0800 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Comm Specialist Samantha Traynor_

Slowly but surely, Laura opened her eyes and yawned. She found Traynor wrapped in both the sheets and her arms. The commander warmly smiled and raised one hand to rub her eye. Eventually, Samantha woke up. "I was trying not to wake you up" Shepard whispered.

"Good morning to you, too" the specialist replied wolfishly. "What time is it?" Laura rolled over and stared at the bedside clock. "Eight in the morning" the commander answered. Traynor happily sighed. "At last, a good night sleep." The specialist shuffled around, rolled over and looked at her lover. "I'm going to have a shower, okay? Could I use yours?"

"First you steal me, now you steal my shower? Of course you can." Samantha smiled, released herself from the commanders grip and got out from under the sheets. Even though Laura was watching, the specialist walked, whilst still being naked, over to the small en-suite. Shepard laid back as she heard the noise of the shower come on.

Once Traynor was done, Shepard had a brisk shower and the two of them made their way down to get some breakfast. The two of them got their breakfast and made their way into the crew lounge, where they sat down at a table and began eating. "So" Samantha began, swallowing her mouthful, "what was recruiting the new members of the team like?" Laura waited until she had finished with her chunk of food to speak. "Samara's mission was slightly annoying. She sent me on a travel to get the name of a ship she wanted to get hold of. It was a long story. Thane's was a little tedious; I had to get up to the top of the two towers in Illium and stop Thane. I didn't manage to. Then I found out that he's dying and there's nothing we can do to save him. Kaeli's mission was strangely exhilarating; I had to break her out and escape the police station."

"It sounds fun" Traynor replied, chewing a mouthful of food happily.

After breakfast, Laura said goodbye to the specialist and let her go to her post. Soon enough, the commander was on the galaxy map, scrawling through the systems, attempting to find Tali's radar. She eventually found it in a far right system. "Joker" she said through the radio. "Take us to Haestorm."

 _May 20th, 2185_

 _0900 hours_

 _Haestorm_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Kaeli "Raven" Analu, Gunnery Officer Garrus Vakarian_

The Cerberus shuttle zoomed through the air before landing at Haestorm. "Shepard, our data indicates that Tali is somewhere within these ruins. There is considerable geth activity, and an environmental hazard. Solar output has torn through Haestorm's protective magnetosphere. Exposure to direct sunlight will damage your shields." Laura, Kaeli and Garrus all jumped out of the shuttle and quickly charged into the nearest bit of darkness. "Our shields are overheated, commander" the pirate exclaimed.

"We need a way to stay out of the sunlight" Garrus continued. The commander walked into the small room beside the large door and tapped the console. As the door opened, a geth dropship flew overhead. "Dropship!" Kaeli yelled.

The ship launched several geth ground troopers into the courtyard. As one came rushing up the hill, Kaeli whipped out her assault rifle and forced it back. "Maybe we can use the sunlight to our advantage" Shepard suggested. "We could force the geth into the sun so we don't have to put as much effort into killing them."

"Consider it done" Garrus retorted. Before anyone could say anything, he leaned out from behind cover, lined up his sights on the furthest geth soldier and pulled the trigger. The bullet smashed into the troopers head, breaking the glowing bulb. "Move up, team!" Shepard commanded. The three of them got behind the chest high fencing in front of them and shimmied across it. They turned a corner and kept going until they had to face off against the rest of the troopers. Two geth remained; Kaeli unhooked an uncooked grenade from her belt, pulled the pin and lobbed it at the troops. They panicked, but they didn't have time to move, as the weapon exploded which sent the hurtling through the air. They landed in a huge square of sunlight. One geth quickly got up and looked at the sun. Suddenly, its eye popped and its metal flesh melted. The other trooper buzzed and fell onto its knees. "They're done for" Laura insisted. "Let's leave them."

The commander, the marksman and the pirate ran along the metal grates, up the sun glazed stairs and along the path until they met with more geth. "Get to cover!" The three of them crouched behind cover just in time for the enemies to miss their first round of shots. Shepard cloaked herself, ran out and jumped onto the left most trooper. She pinned it down and positioned it in such a way that only its head was in the sunlight. It buzzed manically before its head cooked. Laura's cloak dispersed, leaving her to the other troopers. Luckily, Kaeli was there to save her; she emptied her first clip into the two troopers that remained. "Thanks, Kaeli. You really saved my ass. Come on, move out." The three of them rushed along and ducked beside the nearest chest high wall. Reluctantly, the squad avoided the first round of enemy fire. The commander charged her biotics, climbed onto the chest high wall she was behind, leapt off and slammed down as hard as she could which sent ripples through the floor. Before she could succumb to the sun, Shepard teleported out of the light and into the shadows, where three geth troopers guarded the door. One huge red geth swung its fist towards the commander. Laura swiftly ducked under it and countered it by tripped up the trooper. It collapsed to the floor and screamed. Shepard hopped on top of it and continuously hit it in the head. Suddenly, another trooper came in from the side and tried to hit the commander with its right hook. She ducked under it, dismounted the red trooper and ducked under another punch. The other geth soldier fired a shot, which Laura quickly ducked under. The bullet killed the other trooper instantly. The remaining geth fired a spree of shots, but it was too slow; Shepard had already pulled out a biotic shield to block the fire. She ran towards the ground trooper and pinned it against the wall. Shepard briskly raised up the shield which disarmed the geth. She took hold of the geth and pulled it behind her. It fell to the ground, where the commander mounted his face, raised up her shield and slammed it down on its neck. Shepard quickly broke apart the shield and signalled for her crew to come to her.

Once her team were with her, Laura opened the door with the panel beside it. It opened, revealing a large open courtyard. "Let's go, team. Kaeli, take out those troopers on the balcony, Garrus, get rid of the geth at the back." They both nodded and got to work whilst the commander rushed through the doorway and helped the pirate with removing the foes atop the catwalk. Once they were gone, Shepard leapt up onto the balcony and began firing at the troopers in the front and back. The commander pulled out a grenade and threw it down to the troopers beneath her. They panicked and rushed out into the sunlight. Whilst they were being fried alive, Laura charged up her biotics and shot off an immensely powerful purple laser which streamed along the ground at the back, forcing the geth into cover. "Move out the way!" Shepard yelled before dropping a cluster grenade onto the catwalk, leaping off and running along the wall nearest to her. The balcony blasted apart, leaving a trail of fire in its wake. Vakarian and Analu moved forward when the explosion was done, trying desperately to catch up with their commander. Meanwhile, Laura sprinted across the wall, holding on with one hand whilst flaring biotics with the other. She eventually jumped off when she reached the end and landed next to the troopers at the back. The commander quickly decimated their forces and picked up a sticky explosive. "It seemed like these troopers must've been ordered to get into what ever is behind this fallen pillar" Shepard pointed out, "Demolition squad, maybe? Anyway, we can finish what they started." Shepard stuck the dynamite to the pillar and started the timer. Her and her team backed away and watched as it exploded.

Laura, Garrus and Kaeli stepped through the hole the blast left. Unfourtunately, they had to open the door manually; it seemed as if the explosion has rendered the door's opening mechanism useless. "Both of you" the commander began, "duck under my arms once I open the door." Shepard slipped her fingers in the gap, pulled the door open and, when it was open enough, she stepped into the gap and put her weight on the door. Vakarian and Analu crouched under the commanders arms and rushed into the building. Shepard teleported into it after them, leaving the door to slam shut. Shepard crossed the room and walked over to the terminal where she could see a hologram of Tali's head. "Hello? Tali'Zorah nar Rayya to Ground Fleet, does anyone read me?" asked the quarian worryingly.

"I do, Tali" Shepard answered.

"Shepard? What are you – never mind. I'm pinned in a building by heavy geth forces who have fortified outside of my base. They've sealed the doors; I can't get out!"

"We'll help you, Tali. Just stay calm. Where are you?"

"In a small research room on the other side of the scrap yard."

"The door on our end is locked. Do you think you can get it open?"

"Y-yes, I can. Let me just... there! The door should now be open. Head down the small path and onto the catwalks, where you'll be met with heavy resistance."

"We can handle it. Stay safe, Tali." Laura switched off the comm and smiled at her team. "Let's go and save her."

The three of them rushed down the path and, when they reached the catwalks, ducked behind the barriers. "Oh, keelah..." the quarian beside them uttered.

"Who are you? Are you hurt?"

"My name is Kal'Reegar, and I'm fine! Just a minor suit breach. Let me just..." He reached over the barrier and shot his RPG, but he recoiled in pain as soon as it fired. "Argh!"

"You clearly aren't fine!" Shepard exclaimed. "Stay here. We'll handle it."

"But I need to -"

"What you need to do is rest" the commander insisted, keeping Kal down whilst the geth fired back. "Just keep back here. We'll get Tali and ensure her safety. Before we move out, what's the best strategy for getting to Tali?"

"The left is heavily guarded by geth primes. If you go down the centre, you'll be blasted by the colossus' rockets. Going down the right is your best bet, even if it's heavily guarded by troopers."

"Thank you, Kal. Keep tight whilst we do the work."

Garrus peeked over cover, but quickly got back down once the geth fired at him. Shepard charged her biotics, leaned over cover and sent a shockwave running through the ground at the colossus. "Let's go, people!" Kaeli moved up first, followed by Shepard and then quickly Garrus. The pirate quickly peeked out of cover and emptied two clips. Shepard got in front of her, powered up her biotics and released a singularity behind the troopers guarding the catwalk. They all slammed against each other; Laura charged up yet again and fired a biotic bomb at the geth, blasting the forces on the balcony. "Garrus, Kaeli, run across the boardwalk. I'll run along the walls." Shepard began running; she leapt onto the walls and kept her momentum for as long as she could. Once she felt that it was running out, the commander teleported towards the closest trooper and slammed down. She rolled from one cover to the next, all the time firing biotics at the geth by the door. The colossus crouched into a ball to avoid enemy fired whilst the troopers around it violently attacked Shepard and her squad. Garrus picked off a few of the furthest of the troops before focusing all fire on the colossus. Shepard and the pirate finished off the remaining Geth before also focusing their full attention on the colossus. Eventually, they dismembered the colossus, which sent it into a mad frenzy before it exploded.

Shepard and her team opened the door and rushed in. Inside, Tali was working on something on the computers. Laura tapped her on the shoulder as she got closer. The quarian turned around, smiled and hugged the commander. "I can't believe it's really actually you. What are you doing here?" she asked, pushing Laura away.

"You remember back on Freedom's Progress?" Shepard asked. Tali briskly nodded. "Well, we were investigating the disappearance, just like you. We eventually found out it was an ancient race called the collectors. Ever since then, we've been assembling a small team to fight them. We need you, Tali. I know you weren't willing to join us back in the colony, but are you now?" Suddenly, Kal'Reegar walked through the door. "You survived?" Tali asked.

"I sure did. A little suit breach won't stop me from saving you. In fact, it's this lady here who saved you." The engineer looked back to the commander and smiled. "I will join you. Just let me get my things and finish up my work." Once Tali was out of sight, Laura walked down to Kal and patted him on the shoulder. "We'll send for a team to pick you up and take you back to the Migrant Fleet. We'll make sure you're looked after until then."

"Thank you, Shepard. You've made both Tali and I happy again."

 _May 20th, 2185_

 _1600 hours_

 _SSV Normandy SR-2_

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Kaeli "Raven" Analu_

Shepard looked over her armour for the fourth time; she was sure the sunlight had melted part of it, but she just couldn't tell. She put the armour back into the armoury and made her way down to the cargo hold to see Kaeli.

Once she got down there, she walked over to the hold and smiled at the pirate as she came in. "Hey, Shepard."

"Hey, Kaeli. I just came down here to say that you did a really good job on the mission today."

"Thanks. You did most of the work, though."

"No, no, I didn't. You show real potential, Kaeli." Shepard smiled, and the pirate smiled with her.


	12. Loyalty - Miranda

__May 20th, 2185__

 _ _2100 hours__

 _ _SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard__

After speaking to Kaeli, Shepard felt as if she needed to speak to the rest of her crew, to catch up. So, she went around the ship, speaking to her squad, who all seemed to give her tasks. They all had a theme of having them be grateful, so it would be best for the crew to trust Laura before they went on a final mission with her.

As the elevator doors screeched open, the commander rubbed her eyes and walked into her cabin, locking the door behind her. She sauntered sleepily into her bathroom and slowly removed her top and bottoms. She threw the garments into the laundry basket, stepped out of the en-suite and walked over to her bed. She pulled of her boots, one at a time, and put them beside her bed. Laura adjusted the strap on her bra and got into bed, pulling the sheets over her shoulder and burying her head in the pillow. Eventually, she managed to drift off, her head filled with thoughts of both loving care and vision-like images of the mission she would have to do in the coming days.

 _ _May 21th, 2185__

 _ _0930 hours__

 _ _SSV Normandy SR-2__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard__

With a long and moaning yawn, Laura cleaned her eyes and looked around. She looked at the bedside clock and smiled. Finally, she thought to herself, twelve and a half hours; a good night sleep at last. She slowly sat up and stretched. The commander stood up and lazily lumbered over to the bathroom. Shepard leaned over the sink, briefly ran the tap and splashed the water over her face. It seemed to have woken her up.

She looked over to the small shower space. The commander stood up straight and made her way over to the allocated space. She quickly turned the shower on and stepped out of the way of the stream of water which quickly rushed down.

Laura unhooked her bra and threw it into the laundry basket. She then bent down, grabbed hold of the hem of her underwear and pulled it down her legs and over her feet. She lobbed that into the basket as well, loosened her hair by pulling out the tight band and walked back into the shower space.

As she walked into the stream, the hot water cascaded down Shepard's front, running through the curves and crevices.

Jaded hands reached out and took hold of the bottle of soap. The commander popped open the cap and poured a lump of it onto her hands. She put the bottle back and frothed up the soap in her hand. She spread the foamy substance out across her lightly tanned body and rubbed it in. She caressed her body to rub the soap in; when she was done, she grabbed a bottle of shampoo from the holder in the shower and dolloped that on her palm as well.

She also lathered that up, brushed her hair back, moving the soap through her locks and, when she knew she had soaked it in well enough, began to rinse of her torso, buckling her hips so that they face the shower head.

Suddenly, the door to the commander's cabin opened, and Samantha stepped through the doorway. "Shepard?" she called out.

"I'm in the shower! I won't be a minute!" Laura replied, quickly rinsing her hair, turning the shower off, dabbing herself lightly and wrapping herself in a towel.

The commander walked out of the bathroom, saw Traynor sitting on the bed and warmly smiled. "Hey, Sammy?"

"Sammy?" the specialist asked.

"Sam – oh, silly me. I didn't even realized I said it out loud."

"No, no, commander, it's fine. I kind of like it actually. Anyway, the reason why I came here was that I wanted to tell you that your mother told me to a leave a message saying that she wants to speak to you."

"Really?" Laura replied excitedly. Traynor nodded and smirked. "She said she'd speak to you via comm link in the briefing room."

"Thanks for telling me" Shepard replied. "I'll just get changed."

"Oh, don't you worry about that. I'll get your clothes, you dry yourself off." Before Laura could respond, the specialist had already walked past her.

Traynor tapped her lover on the shoulder as Shepard dried off. Laura turned around and smiled. "Thanks" she said, grabbing the clothes. She quickly got into them and smiled again. "Thanks again for telling me."

"No problem" Traynor replied happily. "It's nice to see you smile."

O0o

Laura quickly hurried down to the briefing room and activated the comms. She replied to the message her mother had left, and, soon enough, she replied with a live video. "Laura..." the mother said.

"Jennifer. Sorry, mum. God. It feels like a lifetime since I've called you that."

"Technically, it has" Jennifer replied. "When I heard you were dead, I couldn't stop myself from crying. Every night I would go to sleep knowing you weren't somewhere in the galaxy. But, when I heard you were alive again, I was shocked. Rebirth, or – oh, I don't know. But I had to get in contact with you."

"Speaking of that, how did you contact me?" Shepard asked.

"I managed to contact Jeff, and, eventually, you. Oh, it's so great to see you" Jennifer exclaimed. "How are you?"

"I'm good" Laura replied. "Work is going well. When I say work, I mean another heroic journey. It seems like part of my contract these days. How about you, mum. How's life? Are you still spacing?"

"I am" the commander's mother replied. "I've transferred ships, but that was months ago. It's my home now. I'm on the SSV Cascade. Speaking of ships, I heard you got a new one."

"The SSV Normandy SR-2. It's based on the layout of the first, but it's twice the size with three times as big of a drive core."

"It sounds good. Maybe one day I'll get enough time off so that I can visit you."

"I'd like that" Shepard replied happily.

"Anyway, I have to go now. Send my love to Jeff; I'll be in touch soon." Before Laura could say goodbye, the video on the comm shut down, leaving the commander alone in the room. "I love you."

As Shepard walked out of the briefing room, Traynor stopped her. "How did it go?" the specialist asked.

"It went well. We didn't get much talking time, but it was enough. Anyway, I have to go and do something. I'll see you later." The commander said goodbye by kissing Samantha on the cheek and walked away. Laura made her way over to the galaxy map, where she headed for Illium.

 _ _May 20th, 2185__

 _ _1000 hours__

 _ _Illium__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Kaeli "Raven" Analu__

As Miranda and Kaeli followed their commander, the officer spoke. "Thanks, again, for helping me with my sister."

"No problem" Shepard replied warmly. "Anything to help my crew. Where did you say she was? Here?" Laura turned a corner and walked into a room where an asari was leaning against the wall. As soon as she Shepard and her team, she perked up. "The Eclipse team is getting dangerously close to finding Miranda's sister. Are you ready to go?"

"I'm ready whenever you are, Miranda" the commander said, turning to the officer. She turned around and walked away. "I appreciate this, Shepard, I really do. I never planned on Eclipse... but they never planned on you.

O0o

Latania flew the group in a cab to where Miranda's sister was. As Lawson looked out the window, she frowned. "Dammit!" she exclaimed. "Eclipse mercenary gunships. They'll be dropping off troops somewhere around here."

"Drop us down by them" Laura commanded. As the cab flew in closer, the troops on the ground looked up at the car and shot at it. One specific merc pointed a grenade launcher at it and shot. It hit the hull of the cab and sent it crashing down. "Shit!" the commander exclaimed. "Jump!"

Analu, Lawson and Shepard all jumped out of the car and landed roughly on the ground. Laura crawled over to the wreckage and checked Latania. "The driver's dead."

"We'd better get moving" Kaeli replied. "They'll be swarming this area soon enough." The three of them were met with resistance as they tried to leave the wreckage. "Fire!" the commander yelled. Kaeli primed a grenade and threw it into the band of mercenaries. They quickly moved away from the blast and shot back. Laura and Miranda stayed in cover whilst Kaeli fired her rifle from behind the scenery. One by one, the pirate picked off the Eclipse mercs, with a little help from the commander and the officer.

Once they were down, the three of them sprinted down the hall until they were met with more resistance. Shepard quickly put the closest one to them in stasis. "Kill him!" Miranda aimed her pistol and shot the frozen merc between the eyes. Laura pulled one of the mercs towards her. She briskly turned him around and held him by his neck. She used him as a meat shield as the other mercenaries fired at the commander. With her free hand, Shepard released a shock wave into the Eclipse troopers, knocking them aside. "Come on!" Laura exclaimed, throwing the body on the floor.

Shepard and her squad moved up and opened the elevator door. A radio on the floor buzzed; the commander looked back at Lawson. Miranda slowly strutted over to it, bent over and picked it up. "I'll patch us in, see if I can get an idea of what we're up against." The officer sighed, turned around and looked at her commander. "Shepard, I think I owe you an explanation. Oriana is my twin, genetically. But my father... grew her when I was a teenager. She was meant to replace me, but I couldn't let her go through what I went through. So I rescued her. She's almost a woman now."

"Why didn't you tell me we were saving a kid?" Shepard asked, slightly confused at the whole thing.

"She's not a child; she'll be nineteen this year. But... well, it didn't seem relevant at the time, I suppose. There are people who'd use her against me. Bad people. I'm very protective when it comes to Oriana. I'm sorry I didn't trust you sooner. You deserved to know."

"If Eclipse knows where Oriana is, they'll be moving in on her soon. We need to hurry."

"Agreed." Lawson and Analu followed their commander into the elevator, at which point the doors closed.

As it reached the destination, the three of them left it and ran through an open crate. "They're on the far side of the conveyor line" Kaeli whispered. "Time your shots."

"Let's move in, people" Laura replied. "Miranda, fit your warp ammo. Kaeli, fit your incendiary ammo." The officer and the pirate changed their ammo and followed the commander to the edge of the conveyor line. "Miranda, to the left. Kaeli, to the right." Lawson took cover to the left of her commander, and Analu took cover to the right. "On my mark" Laura started, holding up her hand. "3, 2, 1, MARK!" The three of them fired at the mercenaries on the other side of the conveyor line. They shot back, getting into the best cover they could find. Shepard lifted one troop up and slammed him back down to the floor. She peaked back over and launched a singularity. All of the mercs bound together into the ball of dark energy. "Fire!" the commander yelled. Miranda and Kaeli shot at the helpless mercs. When the singularity disappeared, the Eclipse soldiers crawled to cover. "I've got this." Laura teleported to the other side of the conveyor belt and slammed down, killing the remaining mercenaries.

The three of them moved up and heard someone of the comm. "This is Enyala. Keep the bitch back! We can't let her get to the girl." Shepard and her squad ran into more trouble down the road, but they were no match. The mercs were quickly decimated by the three of them, and the squad briskly moved on. They passed another conveyor belt. As they ran down the corridor, Enyala spoke through the comm again. "Direct everyone away from us. I'll deal with them both personally."

"Both?" Miranda exclaimed. "Shit, let's keep going." Shepard, Lawson and Analu ran into more trouble at another conveyor belt. They crouched behind cover and evaded the first round of bullets. In retaliation, the pirate lobbed a grenade over to the other side of the belt. Laura snapped off one of the crates from the conveyor belt and threw it onto the explosive. It went off, exploding the crate and making a huge blast radius, engulfing the mercs in flames.

May 20th, 2185

 _ _1100 hours__

 _ _Illium__

 _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Kaeli "Raven" Analu_

"Listen to me!" Niket instructed simply. "I've got authorization to change their booking."

"I'm sorry, sir" the asari at the transport replied. "We're under security lockdown. Until the situation at the cargo terminal is resolved, no passengers can be rebooked."

"This isn't worth my time, Niket" Enyala chimed in impatiently. "I get paid regardless of how the girl gets there."

"No!" Niket exclaimed. "I was told that I could handle this my way. We're not traumatizing the family more than we -"

Suddenly, the elevator pinged open, letting Shepard, Miranda and Kaeli walk through. "Miri?" Niket asked sheepishly.

"This should be fun" Enyala said, jumping down from the crate and pulling out her shotgun. In response, Laura and her squad quickly pulled out their weapons. "Niket?" Miranda asked. "What the hell are you doing here?" The asari worker tried to run away, but Enyala shot her in the back. "Niket" Lawson repeated. "Did you – you sold me out."

"How do you want to handle this, Miranda?" Shepard asked.

"You were my friend, Niket. You helped me escape from my father, and now I know that you're working for that bitch."

"Yes! But you wanted to leave. It was your choice! If I'd known you'd stolen a baby-"

"I didn't save her! I rescued her!" The officer primed her pistol, but Shepard pulled it away from her. "Miranda, wait!" Laura exclaimed. "You don't want to do this." Before anyone could say anything, Enyala shot Niket in the back of the head. "I do."

"Oh, you're going to pay for that, bitch!" Shepard took hold of the asari's throat with her biotics and tightened them as much as she could, eventually starving the mercenary of breath. "Come on, Miranda, Kaeli. Let's go."

The three of them walked into the elevator on the other side of the belt. Laura pressed the buttons and the door closed. "I can't believe Niket sold me out" Miranda said. "I didn't even see it coming."

"Everyone makes mistakes. I guess that's one you'll learn from."

"Why didn't you let me kill him? I could have handled that. But watching him get gunned down..."

"You still cared for him, even if he betrayed you."

"You're right. And my father knew it. He used that against me. It's always been like this. My father gave me anything I ever wanted, but there was always a hook. An angle for his long term plan. I threw away everything he every gave me when I ran. Except Niket. Weakness on my part."

"You can't toss away everything just to stay safe."

"It's okay, Shepard. My father hurt me, but he didn't break me. Let's go back to the Normandy."

"Agreed. Take a break from all the work; relax, be yourself. You've earned it."


	13. Loyalty - Samara

__May 20th, 2185__

 _ _1200 hours__

 _ _Omega__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Executive Officer Miranda Lawson, Samara__

 _Samara had spoken to Shepard about the justicar's daughter, Morinth, an ardat yakshi. Morinth uses her stunning body to entice unsuspecting victims. When seduced with her victim, the ardat yakshi mentally melds with her partner. The melding process proves too strong for the victim, and they either die or get left a gibbering wreck. Samara wants her dead._

 _"We may be able to find out information on Morinth's whereabouts from Aria, Shepard." Laura nodded and made her way up to Aria. "Hello, Shepard. Long time, no see. What can I do for you?" The commander sat down and sighed. "An asari fugitive is hiding out here. She's an ardat yakshi; we need to find her."_

 _"I knew it. Nothing leaves a body quite so... empty... as an ardat yakshi does." The asari relaxed back into her seat and smiled. "Her latest victim was a young girl. Lived in the tenements near here. That's where I'd start." Laura stood up and thanked Aria for the information._

 _The justicar and the officer followed the commander over to the apartments. One of the doors was open, so Shepard and her squad made their way into the building. Inside was a woman, sitting alone in the quiet. "Are you here about my daughter?" she asked calmly. "My Nef died a week ago, and no-one seems to care. The medics say it was a brain haemorrhage, but that's not true. It was muder; someone killed my baby." Shepard nodded and agreed with the mother._

 _"I agree that she was murdered, too, and I'm looked for her killer. Is it okay if we look around her room for any clues?" The mother nodded and sighed deeply. Instead of looking sad, she looked empty and hollow. "Yes, that's okay. I left her room as it was; I didn't want to disturb anything." Laura nodded and walked into Nef's room. She wandered over to the journal and commanded the logs to be read in order of date; oldest to newest._

 _ _Hey, diary! Cycle 34, orbit 671. There's a lot to talk about. I dropped Jarut's name, and they let me into the VIP room in Afterlife. I was sure everyone was staring at me. It was amazing, though, and I met the most beautiful asari. She starts dancing near me. She moves like water; so fluid, shifting, changing. I'm in a trance. Then I'm dancing with her! We went for skewers, and I'm meeting up with her again tomorrow.__

 _ _Cycle 36, orbit 671. Am I a freak? Morinth is a girl like me, and she definitely isn't human. It's just that... when we dance, and the hallex flows through me... the way she looks at me... with a hunger – a longing hunger. No-one has ever seen me like that before. We kissed tonight.__

 _ _Cycle 42, orbit 67. We're going to her apartment tonight. Whatever happens, I want to be with her forever. She can sell my things. We'll live somewhere glamorous, like the women in Vaenia, that vid Morinth showed me. How did this happen to a girl like me? I'm just dumb trash from Omega.__

 _"Close the holo-journal" Shepard ordered. Samara tapped the commander on the shoulder and grumbled. "This is Morinth's work. She is attracted to artists and creators. Someone with a spark, someone alone. She impresses them with sophistication and sex appeal. Then she strikes. The hunt interests her as much as the conquest." Laura nodded and sighed._

 _"She's definitely a threat."_

 _"She speaks with you on many levels. Her body tells you that she'll bring unimaginable ecstasy. Her scent evokes emotions long hidden. We cannot storm her den – she'll have a hundred escape routes planned. This is the closest I've ever been to her."_

 _"Okay then" Shepard said, calmly. "We'll lay a trap for her. I'll visit the VIP section of afterlife and give her the opportunity to seduce me. I'll let her take me to her flat, and then you can strike._

 _Shepard, Lawson and Samara made their way to the VIP section, where Shepard dropped the name "Jarut" and was let in. Laura quickly changed into something more presentable and talked it over with Samara again._ _ _Go in alone, pique her interest, subtly encourage her to invite you to her apartment and then let Samara spring the trap.__

 _Laura left the officer and the justicar outside and made her way into the club. As she walked in, she overheard an argument between a man and a dancer. "Come on, baby. How much will it cost me?"_

 _"Back off, asshole. I'm a dancer, not a hooker!"_

 _"You've got a mouth on you! I'll enjoy watching you use it." Shepard stepped in and pushed the turian away. "The nice lady asked you to back off."_

 _"What the hell?! I'm just looking for a good time, this is none of your business." The turian tried to push against the commander's hand. Shepard balled her other hand and hit the man in the face with her fist. She grabbed him, slammed him up against the wall and kneed him in the stomach. Shepard walked over to the dancer and smiled. "Thanks for that" she said. "That dude was an ass." The dancer walked off, and Laura walked over to the dance floor. The woman next to her said hello. "I'll dance next to you. If you wanna think we're dancing together, go ahead." Shepard quickly danced beside the asari woman and smiled. Once she was done, the commander made her way over to the bar._

 _Laura leaned against the bar and smirked. "These are good people, but they look bored. Bored people don't spend much."_

 _"And you've got an idea on how I could fix that?" the bartender asked._

 _"A round of drinks shows that you appreciate their business. Your reputation will improve, and more people will make you more money in the end."_

 _"Maybe worth a try once. You'd better be right." The bartender lightly clinked two glasses togtether. "Listen up, everyone. We love having you here, so a round of drinks, on the house!"_

 _As Shepard walked along the path, an asari stopped her. "My name is Morinth. I've been watching you. You're the most interesting person in this place. I've got a booth over here in the shadows. Why don't you come and sit with me?" The commander followed the ardat yakshi into her booth, where they sat down on opposite ends of the table. "Some nights, I come here and there's no-one interesting to talk to. Some nights, there's just one person. Tonight it's you. Why is that?"_

 _"I know what I like" Laura replied._

 _"Do you?"_

 _"Do you know anything about art?" the commander asked._

 _"It speaks to the darkest places in me. What about you?"_

 _"Do you know the artist Forta?"_

 _"I didn't think anyone around here knew him. He's incredible – sublime. Art does come in many varieties, though. I've seen vids that were more powerful than a sculpture sitting in a gallery."_

 _"Do you know Vaenia?"_

 _"My favourite. The two actresses in it are so glamorous." Shepard sipped some of her drinks and smiled. "I've travelled all over the galaxy."_

 _"It changes you, doesn't it?"_

 _"Real travel means going to dangerous places."_

 _"Where you can see and do things most people can't imagine. When I travel, I find myself drawn to dark, dangerous places."_

 _"Violent places?"_

 _"Violence is the surest expression of power."_

 _"Violence is a means to the end. Power is that end. What d'ya think of the music here?" Laura asked, sipping more of her alcohol._

 _"Dark rhythms, violent pulses. It stirs something primitive in me. What about you?"_

 _"You wouldn't have heard of anything I like."_

 _"You think my taste in music is shallow."_

 _"If you've heard of it, it's already too mainstream for me."_

 _"You can loose yourself in the music here. There are ways to enhance that. You know?"_

 _"What do you think about Hallex?"_

 _"It's good. I've got some at my apartment. I want you alone." Shepard followed Morinth out of the club. Samara watched from the sidelines and followed them discreetly._

 _Shepard sat down on the sofa, with Morinth next to her. "I love clubs" the asari clarified. "People, movement. I can still hear the bass, like the drums of a great hunt. But here, it's muted. You're safe; is that what you want?"_

 _"People feel safest before they die" she replied quickly._

 _"It's true, none of us are safe. I've never understood the fascination with safety. Some of us choose differently." Morinth got up and sat back down on the commander lap. "Independence over submission. I think we share that, you and I."_

 _"We've both killed many times, but that's where the similarities end."_

 _"How do you know I've killed? Let's stop playing games." Morinth shuffled and sat down beside Laura. Her eyes darkened. "Look into my eyes and tell me you want me. Tell me you'd kill for me. Anything I want."_

 _"Don't count on it." At that moment, Samara walked through the door, biotics coursing over her body. Morinth sat up, but was flung across the room and into a window. "Mother." Samara slammed her again. "Do not call me that!"_

 _"It doesn't change it, mother."_

 _"You made your choice long ago." Morinth overwhelmed the room with power and jumped down. She grabbed a table with her biotics. "What choice?! My only crime was being born with the gifts you gave me!" Samara was knocked down by the table, but she quickly got back up. The ardat yakshi and the justicar fought between each other, pushing against each others biotics. Shepard grabbed Morinth's arm and let Samara finish her off. The justicar breathed heavily and looked to the commander. "I am ready to leave and get on with my life." Laura nodded and took the asari back to the ship._

 _ **A/N: And I'm back! I was mainly gone because the chapter I had to write bored me so much, so I swapped it out for this one! Hopefully, things will get back into a regular schedule. Once this is done, I'm going to write my next story fully before I post it.**_


	14. Loyalty - Tali'Zorah

__May 22th, 2185__

 _ _1830 hours__

 _ _Docking Cradle A-27, Quarian Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Rayya__

 _Among the quarian empire, Tali'Zorah's name and legacy had been thrown around and toyed with by the media. Ever since assumptions that Tali was involved with an act of treason started, the press had been having a field day with it. The time eventually came for the engineer's trial._

 _"Butterflies?" Shepard asked as the elevator reached their destination. Tali nodded and looked around nervously. The crowds of quarians all around turned to look at the engineer. Laura could hear mumblings. "... why would she help the Geth?"_

 _"... and to think we once looked up to her." Tali looked ahead and kept walking until they met up with Shala'Rann, the mother-figure to Tali. "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, you're finally here. It feels like centuries since I've spoken with you. Not long now, eh?" Rann asked. The engineer shook her head, clenched her fists and quivered. "Thanks for saying vas Normandy. I remember when that was used as an insult, but now I'm proud of the title. If you don't mind, I've brought Shepard along to represent me at the trial. Is that okay?"_

 _"That's better than OK. Maybe she'll be able to stick up for you. A pleasure to meet you, commander. My name is Admiral Shala'Ran vas Tonbay." She reached out to shake the spectre's hand. Shepard gladly accepted the gesture._

 _"_ _ _All admiral's the the committee board!__ _"_

 _"Let's go" Rann said. Laura, Shala and Tali made their way over to the comitee. Rann stepped over to the board. "Tali'Zorah vas Rayya, you have been brought in front of this committee on the charge of treason. What say you in your defence?"_

 _"I-" Tali began quietly. Shepard cut in as loudly as she could. "She doesn't need to defend herself. She's innocent!"_

 _"And who are you?" asked the board._

 _"I am commander Laura Shepard. Commander of the SSV Normandy and the first human spectre. I've known Tali for years now, and I know that she wouldn't commit an offence against the fleet. Do you have evidence?"_

 _"A collection of geth soldiers sent by Tali'Zorah reactivated themselves and attacked one of our ships."_

 _"Those geth were inactive, and you know it!" the engineer exclaimed._

 _"We know nothing of the sort" one member of the committee stated. As Tali and the board argued, Shepard tried to think of some way to get the engineer out of trouble – soon enough, it came to her. "Where is this ship?" the spectre questioned. The board exchanged glances between each other. "Somewhere near here. Why is this relevant?" they asked._

 _"That ship is bound to have evidence on it. If we go there, clear it out and get back with evidence, will you pardon Tali?"_

 _"We will. If you are not back within four hours, you will both presumed dead. Claim any evidence you can."_

 _ _May 22th, 2185__

 _ _1830 hours__

 _ _The Alarei, Dormant Ship Sector, Migrant Fleet__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Rayya__

 _The commander and the engineer got back onto the Normandy and made their way to the ship. Zorah and Shepard docked on the inactive vessel. "Are you sure you want to do this?" Laura asked. Tali nodded as the door opened. Shepard got behind cover, quickly followed by Tali. "Tali, on the count of three, take as many Geth out as possible. One, two, three!" The two of them looked over cover and attacked the geth. In response, the machines shot at the engineer and the commander and quickly got behind cover. Tali sabotaged one of the geth soldiers and let him cause havoc among the group whilst Shepard powered up a ball of biotic energy and fired it into the rest of the geth. Tali quickly finished off the rest of the enemy and followed Shepard down the stairs and along the hall._

 _"Wait!" the quarian exclaimed. She walked into a room which branched off of the hall. She looked at a small mechanical ball on a table in silence. "This is one of the storage units I sent to my father." She brushed her hands over the object and studied it intently. "Looks like parts from a disabled repair drone, plus a reflex algorithm that I didn't recognize. I got this on Haestorm." She turned and looked to the spectre. "What made a part worth sending to your father?" Shepard asked. The commander looked over the small metal ball. "It had to be in working order. Something that could be analysed and integrated into other technology. Anything new had priority. Technology the geth developed themselves. Signs of modification, clues to their thinking."_

 _"Could this be of any help?" Laura asked. Tali turned and scanned over to object again. "No. I don't know, Shepard. I checked everything I sent here! I passed up great finds because they might be too dangerous, prone to uncontrolled reactivation or self-repair. I don't know which possibility is worse. The one where I got sloppy and sent active geth, or the one where my father did this all."_

 _Shepard and Tali walked into the next room, weapons prepared. The quarian looked around, her weapon sight wavering slightly. Ever since entering the Alarei, she had been nervous – not only due to the geth, but also due to the fact that she might get a punishment for a crime she didn't commit. All of a sudden, a huge trooper sauntered down the stairs and ran into the commander and the engineer. Shepard jumped and quickly dodged the synthetics first swing. She countered it with a power biotic punch which knocked out the trooper cold._

 _The spectre and the quarian hurried up the stairs. Tali made her way into the room branching off of the next hallway and looked through everything in there. Shepard walked in after her and looked at a terminal on the wall. "Could any of this help you?" she asked. The enginner turned, sauntered over to the commander and sifted through the files. "No. None of this. It's all code; I don't even understand some of it. Let's keep looking." The two of them ran down the corridor. At the end were several geth troopers scouring through the room. The quarian and her commander got behind a chest high wall. Laura ordered Tali to take out the closest geth. She scurried along the wall, peeked from cover and shot the trooper in the back with a shotgun. The rest of the troopers briskly turned around and tried to kill Tali. Shepard put most of the troops into a singularity whilst the enginner dealt with the rest. The spectre closed up the singularity by exploding it. The troopers went flying._

 _The two of them ran through several corridors and rooms, searching for something to help in the trial until they came acorss the corpse of Tali's father. "Keelah, no!" she exclaimed, crouching down and looking over the body. "Dammit, dammit, dammit..." Shepard crouched down beside the engineer and comforted her. "Wait" the spectre spoke suddenly. "There's something here." She touched the object, and a green hologram of Tali's father appeared._

 _ _Tali, if you ever receive this somehow, the Geth have taken over this ship. They've killed next to everyone on board, and I am one of the last ones left alive. Oh, keelah; why did I have to reactivate them? Please don't be angry at me for doing so. I did it for you, so that you could know more. I'm...__

 _The hologram abruptly cut off. "It was him" Tali breathed._

 _"I'm so sorry..." Shepard said, embracing the quarian. The two of them carried on at Tali's request. "Maybe he didn't do it!" the engineer exclaimed as the two of them walked relatively calmly. "Maybe he just – I just need something else to make me believe he did it." Laura and Zorah made their way through the corridors, and eventually walked by the doorway of a huge room. "There are geth in there!" Tali whispered. Shepard crouched down and got into cover in the room. "Tali, hack one of the geth's systems and make him fight the others." The engineer did as she was told and took control of the systems of a trooper._

 _She made the geth soldier turn to his superiors and fire at them. The rest of the geth quickly retaliated by beating down the trooper. The spectre reached her hand out of cover and sent a shockwave across the room. Tali leapt out from behind the wall and loaded her shotgun with corrosive ammunition. She took a few shots at the troopers and quickly made her way behind a bundle of crates. She administered omni-gel as her commander pulled up a biotic shield with one hand and created a blast of incredibly fast biotic wind with the other. The quarian threw out an attack drone from behind the geth. Two of the troopers turned around and were gunned down by the drone. Tali leapt out of cover and finished off the rest of the troopers. "Maybe this has some information on it!" the engineer exclaimed, pointing to a screen. She ran over to it; Laura followed her. She quickly played the recording._

 _ _Reactivate them. They could be useful. But don't let anyone get hurt.__

 _ _We may not be able to control the geth's actions once we re-activate them.__

 _… _Do it.__

 _The quarian sighed as Shepard embraced her. "So, he did it." Tali pushed away from the embrace and stared at her commander. "Shepard, you can't tell this to the committee. They'll tarnish my father's name. Please... don't..."_

 _ _May 22th, 2185__

 _ _2000 hours__

 _ _Docking Cradle A-27, Quarian Liveship Rayya, Migrant Fleet__

 _ _Commander Laura Shepard, Engineer Tali'Zorah vas Rayya__

 _Laura and Tali made their way back to the Rayya. Shepard walked up to the podium and breathed. "Did you reclaim any evidence clearing Tali'Zorah's name?" one member of the board asked. The spectre looked back to her quarian friend and sighed. She looked back to the board, lifted up her arm and played the recording of Tali's father telling the crew to activate the dormant geth._

 _Once the recording had finished, the board exchanged troubled glances between each other. "I see" Raan said. "Tali'Zorah vas Normandy, you are hear-by pardoned of any wrong doing in the activation of the geth aboard the Alarei. Your father's name will be removed from anything we see fit, and you are free to go when you please. Dismissed."_

 _Shepard and Zorah met with admiral Shala'Raan after the meeting. "It was a good thing you did today, commander Shepard" she said. "I understand that you may be angry Tali, but you should be thanking your commander. She really helped you." Tali walked off, but Laura caught up with her. "Tali, I..."_

 _"I – I understand, Shepard. Really, I do. As much as I didn't want it to happen, you were just protecting me."_

 _"I know. I'm sorry. When we get back to the ship, you're free to go on a couple of days of shore leave to clear your head."_

 _"I – thank you, Shepard. If you don't mind, I'd like to go on leave tomorrow morning, maybe spend a few days with Shala here on the Rayya."_

 _"Of course. Come on, then."_


End file.
